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DOMESTIC ro¥L /^>^2 



ORNAMENTAL POULTRY; 



THEIR 



NATURAL HISTORY, ORIGIN, AND TREATMENT IN HEALTH AND 
DISEASE. 



H. D. RICHAEDSOISr, 

Author ol "The Horse," "The Pests of the Farm," "The Hog. 
"The Hive and the Honey-Bee," etc., etc. 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS ON WOOD. 



NEW YORK: 
C. M. SAXTOISr, 

AGRICULTURAL BOOK PUBLISHER. 
1852. 

J^^c^-9^^.U^ pm!^^ ^^i€-^ 1^2^^^ 









EntereJ according to act of Congress, in the year 18.V2, by 

C. M. SAXTON. 

in the Clprk's Office of the Distrfct Court of the United States, for the Southern 

District of New York. 



dy transfer trom 
*flt Office Lib. 



S. W. BEXEDICT, 

SxERrOTVPER AND PrIXTER, 

16 Spruce sheet, N. Y. 



* .. % 



^. J» ^ ^ , > s\ k ^ . ^ ^ > , . 4 > 



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-/O PUBLISHER'S ADVERTISEMENT. 



The Publisher, having found the want of small, cheap Books, of 
acknowledged merit, on the great topics of farming economy, and 
meeting for those of such a class a constant demand, offers, in this 
one, a work calculated to fill the void. 

The works of Richardson on the Hog, the Horse, the Bee, the 
Domestic Fowl, and the Pests of the Farm, are popular in England 
and in America, and, in evidence of their worth, meet with continued 
sale both there and here. Hitherto they have not been offered to the 
American public in an American dress ; and the Publisher presents 
in this Reprint, one of the series, adapted to American wants, and 
trusts that a discerning Public will both buy and read these little 
Treatises, so admirably adapted to all classes, and fitted by their 
size for the pocket, and thus readable at the fireside, on the road, 
and in short everywhere. 

C. M. SAXTOF, 

Agricultural Book Publisher. 



INDEX 



Accidents to fowl, how treated, 87 
Age, great, of geese, 82. 
Animal food, requisite in feeding poultry, 
19 ; proper kinds, best mode of giving, 

18, 19, 20. 
Apoplexy, 91. 

Ashes and Litter, in a poultry-house, 14. 
Asthma, 90. 
Aylesbury Duck, 86. 

Bankiva Fowl, described, 26 ; originate 
the Bantam and Turkish fowl. 

Bantam, the origin and varieties of, 25 ; 
description of, 61. 

Barbary Fowl, 45. 

Barndoor Fowl, 55. 

Bolton Greys, 45. 

Breeding Poultry, advantages attending, 
7 ; profits accruing from, 8. 

Buckwheat promotes fecundity in poultry, i 

19. I 

Cabin, Cottier's, advantage of poultry 
roosting there in winter, 16. 

Call Duck, 87. 

Canada Goose, 75. 

Capons, fattening of, 96. 

Caponising, 92 ; objects proposed in, ib.; 
process, ib.; treatment, ib.; performed 
on hens, 94 ; on pullets, ib.; precautions, 
ib.; sometimes performed on turkeys, 
geese, and ducks, 96. 

Chick, formation of the embryo, 33. 

Chickens, when hatched, how to tend be- 
fore they leave the egg, 32 ; how they 
manage to break the shell, 34 ; when | 
they are to be assisted in liberating 
themselves, 35 ; nature of their first 
feeding, 35 ; of their housing, 35, 36. 

Chinese Goose, 77. 

Chittagong, the, 37. 

Christmas, goose a favorite dish at, 74. 

Cochin-China Fowl, the, 38. 

Cock, Domestic, separate feeding requisite 
for, 17 ; partialities for particular hens, 
ib.; dislikes of and their causes, 18 ; 
common, description of, 21 ; his history, i 
23 ; a sacred bird with the ancients, ib.; J 



importance attached to among ourselves 

from earliest times, ib.; original country 
of untraceable. 23 ; various opinions of 
the original country of, ib.; reasons for 
deducing his pedigree from the Jago, 
Sumatra, and Java fowl, 25 ; selection 
of a good, 28 ; pugnacity of, how re- 
pressed, 29 ; apparent feelings of in 
crowing, ib.; his fondness of a clean 
and trim plumage, ib.; gigantic, or St. 
Jago fowl, described, 26; the gold- 
span^led Polish, 42 ; silver-spangled 
Polish, ib.; white-crested black Polish, 
43 ; Dutch everyday laver, 44 ; Dorking, 
45 ; the Malay, 37 ; the Cochin-China, 
33 ; the Spanish, 40 ; cock-fighting 
among the ancient Greeks and Romano, 
22 ; its introduction into Britain, 22. 

Columbian Fowl 42. 

Consumption, 91. 

Corns, 92. 

Costiveness, 92. 

Cramm.ing of fowl, practised by the an- 
cient Romans, 22 ; cruel and unwhole- 
some practice mth geese, 113. 

Diarrhosa, 91. 

Dietary, varied required for fowl, 20. 

Diseases of fowl, 87. 

Dorking Fowl, 46. 

Dorking Hens good sitters, 37. 

Duck, the species admit of a natural 
threefold division, 83 ; power to find 
their food, 84 ; value of domesticated, 
ib.; habits of the whole race, ib.; the 
domestic, ib.; feeding and fattening, 
86 ; hatching, ib. 

Dunghill Fowl, the, 55. 

Dutch Everyday Layers, 44. 

Dutch Fowl, the, 55. 



East Indian Black Duck, 87. 

Egg, shape of. indicates the gender of the 
future chick, 32. 

Eggs, for hatching, how to preserve, 31 ; 
for hatching, how to select, 32 ; during 
the process of hatching, broken to 



INDEX. 



show the mode of furnishiug the nutri- 
ment, 33. 
Every-day layers. 44. 

Fattening of chickens, 21 ; of geese, 80 ; 
of ducks, 84 ; of turkeys, 66. 

Feeding, separate, advisable for poultry 
in certain cases, 17 ; precarious in the 
farm-yard not to be depended on, 18 ; 
substances that may be used in, ib.; 
necessity of animal food in, 19 ; mode 
of giving it, ib.; peculiar, calculated to 

f promote fecundity, how given, ib.; 

varied, necessary, 20 ; stimulating, a 
favorite with fowl, ib.; fattening, 21. 
Fever, 91. 

Fowl, Domestic, housing for, 9 ; methods 
of feeding, 17 ; the origin of, 21 ; selec- 
tion of stock of, 27 ; hatching of, 32 ; 
management of the young brood of, 35 ; 
varieties of, 3S. 
Frizzled Fowl, the, 54. 

Game Fowl, 48 ; management of breeding, 
29, 49 ; varieties of, 50. 

Goose, the, 73 ; common wild or gray-lag, 
74 ; fattening of, 82 ; the white-fronted, 
74; the Canada, 75; the domestic, ib.; 
the Toulouse, ib.; the Chinese, 77 ; va- 
rieties of the domestic, 78 ; breeding 
the, 81 ; food of the young, 80 ; keeping, 
ib.; fattening, 81 ; French process of 
fattening, 82 ; Polish process, ib.; pluck- 
ing alive for the feathers, 83. 

Gout, 92. 

Grass-plot, requisite in poultry-house, 14. 

Grey-lag Goose, 74. 

Guinea Hen, tlie, 68; its origin, ib.; its 
characteristics, 69. ' 

Hamburgh Fowl. 44. 

Hatcliing, best situation for, 10 ; the nest 
for must be clean, 11 ; how conducted 
where there is more than one breed of 
fowl, ib.; choice of a good domestic 
hen for, 30 ; marks of a hen's anxiety 
for, ib.; liow to induce tiie desire lor, 
ib.; inconstancy of a hen in, how reme- 
died, ib.; over-constancy, how treated, 
31 ; breaking the eggs in, how reme 
died, ib. 

Hemp-seed recommended for increasing 
fecundity in poultry, 19. 

Hen, Domestic, described, 21 ; the number 
of hens to be allotted to one cock, 27 ; 
selection of a good cock, 28 ; choice of 
a good one for "incubation, 30 ; the Ma- 
lay, a valuable cross-breed, 37 ; the 
Cochin-China, 38 ; the Spanish, 41 ; the 
gold-spangled Polish, 42 ; white-crested I 
black Polish, 43 ; Dutch every-day 
layer, 44 ; Dorking, 47. 

Hen-coop, description of a, 16, 17. 

Incubation, period of, in the various do- 
mestic few], 36. 



Indigestion, 91. 

Inflammation, 89 ; of the lungs, 90 ; of 
the heart, ib. 

Java Fowl, 37. 

Jumper, the, 53. 

Jungle Fowl, description of, 23. 

Litter, how pleasing to poultry, 14. 

Malay Fowl, 37 ; a cross from them de- 
serving the breeder's attention, 38. 
aioulting, 87. 
Muscovy Duck, 86. 

Negro Fowl, 55. 

Nests for poultry, how made and disposed, 

10 ; those that are most easily cleaned, 

15. 

Parasites in fowls, 91. 

Peacock, the, 60. 

Pepper, a favorite relish with domestic 
fowl, 20. 

Perch for poultry, the best, 9. 

Pheasant Fowl, 51. 

Pheasant, Malay, ib. 

Pintado, the, 68. 

Pip, 83. 

Polish Fowl, 42 ; the spangled, 43 ; the 
white-crested black, ib.; the white, 44. 

Pouch, abdominal, of the Toulouse 
goose, 76. 

Poultry, separate feeding of, in certain 
cases, 17 ; their dispositions to be ob- 
served, 29. 

Poultry houses, 9 ; how to be well kept, 
10 ; how to be warmed, ib.; cleanliness 
and space for exercise essential to, 12 ; 
separate cribs for the diseased requisite 
in, ib.; separate pens requisite in, 13; 
grouud-plan for, ib.; the house itself 
described, 12 ; various requisites for, 
14, 15. 

Prices of superior poultry, 8. 

Profit, of rearing turkeys, 65. 

Pugnacity in the cock, how repressed, 29. 

Pulse, sorts unwholesome to turkeys, 67. 

Rouen Duck, 86. 
Rumpkin, the, -53. 
Russian Fowl, 54. 

Sand, for a i)Oultry house, 14, 20. 

Shaketag, the, 38 ; his origin, ib. 

SiberianFowl, the, 64. 

Silky Fowl, the, 53. 

Sir John Sebright's Fowl, 52. 

Sitting, inconstancy in, how remedied, 30 ; 
overconstancy in, how treated in a hen, 
31 ; how to preserve eggs for, ib.; to 
select eggs for, 32 ; management of the 
eggs during the, ib.; when and how to 
aid, 34 ; table giving time of sitting and 
the number of eggs hatchable by the 
various domestic fowl, 36. 



VI 



Spangled Fowl, their varieties, 44 ; con- 
fusion in distinguishing them, ib. 

Spanish Fowl, 41. 

Sussex Fowl, 47. 

Swan, the, 70 ; the mute, 71 ; the domes- 
tic, ib.; the black, 73. 



the domestic, 61 ; varieties of, 62 ; best 
mode of keeping, ib.; treatment of the 
chickens, 64 ; feeding, ib.; fattening, 
66 ; the weight of, 67. 
Turkish Fowl, the, 63. 

j Vermin, approved method of ridding 
! poultry of, 14. 



Toulouse Goose, 76. 

Turkey, the, 66 ; mistake of Linnaeus in 

his name for, ib.j original country of, ! Web-footed Fowl, 70. 
ib.; his introduction into England, 57 ; 
origin of his English name, ib.; the 
wild, 58 ; his movements, 59 ; experi- 
ments in crossing with the domestic, 60 ; 



Yard, an outer and inner, to be attached 
to a poultry-house, 13. 



DOMESTIC FOWL. 



" How grateful 'tis to wake 
While raves the midnight storm, and hear the sound 
Of busy grinders at the well-filled rack ; 
Or flapping wing or crow of chanticleer, 
Long ere the lingering morn ; or bouncing flails 
That tell the dawn is near ! Pleasant the path 
By sunny garden wall, when all the fields 
Are chill and comfortless ; or barn-yard snug, 
Where flocking birds, of various plume and chirp 
Discordant, cluster on the leaning stack 
From whence the thresher draws the rustling sheaves 



CHAPTER I. 

VIEW OF THE IMPOETANCE OF THE SUBJECT, 

Poultry keeping is an amusement in which every body may indulge. 
The space needed is not great, the cost of food for a few head, insignificant, 
and the luxury of fresh eggs or home-fatted chickens and ducks not to be 
despised In a large collection of poultry may be read the geography and 
pro<-ress of the commerce of the world. The Peacock represents India ; the 
Golden Pheasant and a tribe of Ducks, China; the Turkey, pride of the 
yard and the table, America ; the Black Swan, rival of the snowy monarch 
of the lakes, reminds us of Australian discoveries; while Canada and 
Egypt have each their Goose. The large fat white Ducks-models of what 
a duck should be-are English, while the shining green black ones come 
from Buenos Ayres. And when we turn to the fowl varieties, Spain and 
Hamburgh, Poland and Cochin China, Friesland and Bantam, Java and Ne- 
groland, beside Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Suffolk, and Lancashire, have each a 
cock to crow for them. 

But we may derive other useful lessons besides those of geography and 
commerce from the poultry yard. The same principles, the same close at- 
tention to food, warmth, and symmetry of form, which have produced per- 
fection in short-horned cattle, Leicester sheep, and thorough-bred horses. 



8 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

have, in a minor degree, afforded us Bantams, " true to a feather," as well 
as size and beauty in Spanish, Dorking, and Poland Fowl. 

Whether poultry keeping can be rendered profitable, is a question which 
depends on a variety of circumstances, which cannot be alike in two locali- 
ties ; because they depend on the cost of food, and the nett price which can 
be obtained for the produce in eggs or birds ; thus, one person with the free 
run of a fine dry upland warm common, with a ready market near, may 
make an excellent profit ; while another, bestowing equal care, but confined 
to a small field of cold soil, may lose nine out of ten of the most valuable 
young poultry. 

Poultry may be converted into money either while living or when dead ; 
or they may be bred, partly for the market, and partly with a view to the 
disposal of their eggs. 

First, as to the profit arising from the disposal of superfluous stock. This 
depends, of course, in a great measure, upon the quality and character of the 
birds kept, and hence the breeder should confine his fancy to the more valu- 
able varieties. The expense of feeding and rearing a valuable fowl will 
not be found to exceed that required for a comparatively worthless one ; at 
least, if at all, only as regards comfort and warmth, which, if properly pro- 
cured, are not very costly. Poultry of very superior quality and fashionable 
varieties, especially such as have obtained prizes at any of the first-rate 
agricultural exhibitions, will fetch a high price. Prize fowl, of extraordi- 
nary excellence, bring double price frequently ; but of course this is a price 
given for the brced^ and not for killing. In all these cases the producer 
must, of course, allow a fair profit to the dealer ; he cannot, therefore, 
reckon on more than two-thirds of the price, yet this will amply remune- 
rate him. 

But although there may be doubts about the profits, there can be none 
about the amusement to be derived from a well chosen collection of domes- 
tic birds, and, whether for profit or amusement, the rules to insure success 
are the same. It will be my endeavor to lay these down as plainly as pos- 
sible. 

Certainly the present, if any, is the time for making a profit by poultry, 
since all the inferior kinds of grain are cheap and likely to be cheaper. The 
demand for poultry increases rather than diminishes, and railroads have 
opened up cheap conveyances to market. The fact is that the great draw- 
back on poultry rearing arises from loss by disease ; while the greatest pro- 
fits are derived from successfully rearing the birds which are most subject 
to disease at inclement periods of the year. 

Ducks and geese are more easily raised than fowl, turkeys, or guinea- 
fowl, if there be conveniences of grass and water; but then fine turkeys and 
fat young guinea-fo'wl in due season are sure of a sale at a good price. With 
respect to the poultry of farm houses, which are fed on what would other- 



POULTRY HOUSES. 

wise be wasted or what is collected by the industry of children ; — warmly 
housed, they often thrive better and prove more prolific than the expen- 
sively tended inmates of ornamental poultry houses. 

In the following pages the most esteemed varieties of poultry and water- 
fowl will be described. The poultry keeper will find it to his advantage to 
keep a good breed in preference to a bad one. Some of the more beautiful 
or valuable kinds of poultry are too delicate to prove profitable ; but size, 
early maturity, and prolific hens, will, under the most unfavorable circum- 
stances, be of more advantage than small, ugly, rarely-laying birds. 



CHAPTER II. 

POULTRY HOUSES. 

Before purchasing your poultry have your house all ready to receive 
them, or you may do your stock more harm in a few days, by close cooping 
or cold roosting them, than you can repair in a year. I design showing 
here how very readily, and at how small a cost, a sufliciently good, and in 
every respect suitable poultry-house may be erected. I cannot, of course, 
desire to recommend any restrictions to those whom Providence has favored 
with wealth. There exists no reasonable objection to such as can afford it 
gratifying their taste, either as to extent of accommodation or elegance of 
structure. The poor man, on the other hand, need not lay out one penny, 
and still may be as successful in his operations as his more wealthy neigh- 
bor. It is my object to write for all classes. I shall, accordingly, describe 
several sorts of poultry-houses, from that on the most perfect and extended 
scale, to that which can only boast of barely answering the purposes for 
which it is designed. 

In nine cases out of ten some outhouse is appropriated to the purpose, 
without preparation or alteration. But, if consistent with your means, by 
all means build a proper house. Choose a piece of gravelly soil well drain- 
ed on a slight declivity, near trees which will afford shade and shelter from 
winds. The building should be lofty enough to admit the poultry keeper 
without stooping, because, if it be inconvenient to enter, the chances are 
that regular cleaning will be neglected. Let the roof be kept weather 
tight. If slates or tiles are employed, the house should be ceiled in order 
to protect the fowls from draughts and rapid variations of temperature ; in 
default of lath and plaster a piece of asphelted felt closely nailed makes a 
cheap and efficient ceiling. 

The best perch is made in the shape of a broad double ladder, stretched 
out so as to form a wide angle ; the bars being placed so far apart that one 
1* 



10 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

fowl shall not overhang another. If roosting bars be used across the fowl- 
house, care should be taken that a convenient hen-ladder is always attached 
to them, and that they are not placed too high. Heavy fowl are apt to break 
their breast bones in trying to fly down from high perches. 

The careful poultry keeper should take a vievi^ of the fowl at night after 
they have gone to roost, and see that they are all comfortable, not too crowd- 
ed, with room enough for the weak ones to get away from the strong, who 
are apt to tyrannize. The floor must be dry, and covered with fine gravel 
or sand, and it should be swept clean every day. Nothing injures the health 
of fowl more than bad smells. To obviate this always keep a basket of 
slacked lime or old mortar in a corner with a shovel, so thai you may shake 
some over any dirt. The sweepings, if kept quite dry, form most valuable 
manure. For the same reason have the interior walls frequently white- 
washed, and the window open in fine weather. If the window can be fill- 
ed with a Venetian blind so much the better. The door should have a hole 
at the bottom with a sliding panel to admit the poultry during the day — by 
keeping it locked you have a better chance of gathering plenty of eggs. If 
you have no windows, movable loose boards fitted to the door may be use- 
ful to admit air. 

As warmth is so requisite to poultry, it will be an advantage if one side 
of the poultry house be against the outside wall of a kitchen or boiler-house, 
or a hot water pipe running through it from the hot-house will well repay 
the outlay. With a sweet clean warm poultry house you will have plenty 
of eggs long before more careless neighbors. 

As to the nests, the great point is that they should be near to the ground, 
easily cleaned, and not too large. If they are too large two fowls will of- 
ten try to sit in the same nest at the same time. If there is any difliculty 
in getting into them, hens are apt to drop their eggs on the ground. Nests 
may be made of wood, or basket-work ; there should be a small ledge to 
prevent the eggs from rolling out. A little old mortar or wood ashes laid 
at the bottom will tend to keep the nests clean. Straw and hay both make 
good lining for nests. 

If the nests are arranged in two stories there should be a broad ledge wide 
enough for a hen to walk on in front of the top row, like the platform of a 
drawing-room verandah, and a hen-ladder should be placed at each end, but 
nests are better on the ground. 

It is very advantageous to place fowl which are sitting in a retired situ- 
ation where they will not be annoyed by other fowl, and where, when the 
hatching takes place, they can be cooped with their young out of danger, 
with a dry yard or close cropped lawn in front to run on. Many hens, as 
well as peafowl and turkeys, are vicious, and will try to destroy a rival 
brood. 

A small box, about a yard square, with a hard dry floor, and a movable 



POULTRY HOUSES. 



11 



wooden top, is excellent as a sitting-room for hens. I have seen an old cu- 
cumber frame covered with wooden slabs successfully arranged for bringing 
up early broods. 

Be sure before you put a fowl to set that the nest is perfectly clean ; if 
the hen becomes infested with vermin she pines and cannot set close. 

It will often be found cheaper to make a good fowl-house at first, than to 
be continually adding and patching. 

Of course if you have more than one breed of fowl, they must be kept 
separate, if you intend to keep the race pure. Where this is attempted, an 
enclosure adjoining the poultry-house, with three divisions of iron wire, will 
be found useful, if the space and cost can be spared. In these enclosures in 
wet cold weather, the poultry can be confined, with room to scratch and 
feed. The largest division will be for your laying hens and turkeys, and 
miscellaneous stock. In this space you can muster them, accustom them to 
be fed, and see that all are in health, and make the close observations which 
are needful for success. In the second you can place hens with young broods 
before they are strong enough to mix with the other fowl. In the third, and 
smallest, poultry for fatting. If just large enough for them to enjoy the air 




POULTRY HOUSE. 



12 



DOMESTIC FOWL. 




TRANSVERSE SECTION. 

L, the la3-ing apartment ; H, hatching-room . 
n, nest boxes ; b, b, boxes and troughs for water 
feed, sand, &c.; d, an opening, or door, for en- 
trance and going out ; a, latticed window, for 
ventilation ; jR, roosting-place, separated from 
apartments below by the ceilings c, c ; h, ven- 
tilating hole ; I", ventilator on roof ; p, roosting 
pole ; t, trough for dung. 



without being able to run about much, with shade, sun, plenty of clean water, 
and food, they will generally thrive better than when cooped. A few good 
coops, eitherof wood and wire, or wicker, with the top thatched, should always 
be at hand. These should be made so as to shut up the chickens if necessary, 
as well as the hens. If the fowl-house is large enough have a small sink in one 
corner where it is light, and if it is not large enough, put in the yard, under 
shade, a large glazed earthenware pan, and fill it with fine sand, or ashes, or 
slacked lime, or burned oyster shells, as a dust bath for the fowl. By placing 
the stuff in a pan it is easily changed from time to time. 

If you are obliged to put up with a small lean-to or other confined place, for 
your fowl-house, at any rate take care to keep it clean, for warmth, cleanli- 
ness, and judicious feeding are the cardinal maxims for poultry management. 

Nothing more is necessary for the keeping poultry with profit and advan- 
tage, beyond having a small shed or light building, formed in some warm, 
sunny, and at the same time, sheltered situation, fitted up with proper di- 
visions, boxes, lockers, or other contrivances for the dwelling of the different 
sorts of birds, and places for their laying in. This and cleanliness suffice. 

" Cleanliness," says Mr. Beatson, " with as free a circulation as possible, 
and a proper space for the poultry to run in, is essential to the rearing of this 
sort of stock with the greatest advantage and success, as in narrow and con- 
fined situations they are never found to answer well." 

In every establishment for poultry rearing there ought to be some separate 
crib or cribs, into which to remove fowl when laboring under disease ; for 
not only are many of the diseases to which poultry are liable highly conta- 
gious, but the sick birds are also regarded with dislike by such as are in 



POULTRY HOUSES. 



13 



health ; and the latter will generally attack and maltreat them, thus at the 
very least aggravating the sufferings of the afflicted fowl, even if they do 
not actually deprive them of life. The moment, therefore, that a bird is 
perceived to droop or appear to be pining, it should be removed to one of 
these infirmaries. 

Separate pens are also necessary to avoid quarreling among some of the 
highly-blooded breeds, more particularly the game fowl. They are also 
necessary when different varieties are kept, in order to avoid improper or 
undesired commixture from accidental crossing. These lodgings may be 
most readily constructed in rows, parallel to each other; the partitions may 
be formed of lattice work — they will be rather ornamental than otherv/ise, 
and the cost of their erection will be but trifling. Each of these lodgings 
should be divided into two compartments, one somewhat larger than the 
other. One compartment is to be close and warm for the sleeping-room ; 
the other, and the larger one, should be airy and open, that the birds may 
enjoy themselves in the day-time ; both should be kept particularly dry and 
clean, and be well protected from the weather. 



1 

jar 


nnnnnjiinnnni jjijimi. 


— \]~'\ 1 nnnn^unuinBHi^ 


X 



GROUND PLAN. 



X, laying-room ; H, hatching-room ; n, n, nests for laying ; o, o, nests for hatching ; 
I, ladder ; s, stove. 

Attached to the house should be a well -drained yard, with a division of 
wire or trellis work for every ward, with water in each; and it will be ad- 
vantageous to have outside of this yard a wider range of turf and gravel, 
where the fowl can be more at large. When different broods are kept, and 
it is desired to keep them apart, the larger yard must be shared in turn by 
the inhabitants of the different wards. The hatching- ward and the feeding- 
ward should be kept separate. A roosting and hatching- ward for ducks and 



14 



DOMESTIC FOWL. 



geese, with a small pond, accessible to all the inhabitants of the poultry - 
yard, should be added. 




WATER DISH A^D TANK. 



Every poultry-house should be provided with a sufficient quantity of 
small sand ; or, if such cannot be procured, clean ashes are a good substitute ; 
pieces of chalk are also a useful, nay, necessary adjunct ; crude lime acts, 
however, as a poison. Some horse-dung or chaff, with a little corn through 
it, is also a source of much amusement to the birds ; and it should be borne 
in mind that amusement^ even in the poultry-yard, is materially conducive to 
health. The ashes and litter should be frequently changed, and had better 
also be kept in little trenches^ in order that they may not be scattered about, 
giving a dirty or untidy appearance to the yard. When, however, your 
fowl have a run in a garden or field, of average extent, this artificial care 
will be replaced by nature. 

If the court be not supplied with a little grass-plot, a few squares of fresh 
grass sods should be placed in it, and changed every three or four days. If 
the court be too open, some bushes or shrubs will be found useful in afford- 
ing shelter from the too perpendicular beams of the noon-day sun, and 
probably in occasionally screening the chicken from the rapacious glance of 
the kite or raven. If access to the sleeping-room be, as it ought, denied 
during the day, the fowl should have some shed or other covering, beneath 
which they can run in case of rain : this is w^hat is termed " a storm hmsc ;^^ 
and, lastly, there should be a constant supply of pure^ fresh ivater. 

Fowl frequently suffer much annoyance from the presence of vermin, and 
a hen will often quit her nest, when sitting, in order to get rid of them. 
This is one of the uses of the sand or dust bath ; but a better remedy, and 



rOULTEY HOUSES. 



15 








RUSTIC POULTRY-HOUSE. 

one of far speedier and more certain efficacy, is to have the laying nests 
composed of dry heather and small branches of hawthorn, covered over 
with white lichen. These materials, rubbed together by the pressure and 
motion of the hen, emit a large powder, which, making its vv'ay between 
the feathers to the skin, is found to have the effect of dislodging every sort 
of troublesome parasite. 

The fowl-house should also be frequently and thoroughly cleaned out, and 
it is better that the nests be npt fixtures, but formed in little flat, wicker 
baskets, like sieves, which can be frequently taken down, the soiled strav/ 




FEEDING-BOX. 



16 



DOMESTIC FOWL. 



thrown out, and themselves thoroughly washed : or formed of wooden 
boxes, with a sliding bottom. In either case, hay is objectionable, as 
tending to the production of these vermin. Fumigation, at no very remote 
intervals, is also highly to be commended. Nothing is of more importance 
to the well-being of your poultry than a good, airy walk. These maxims 
cannot be too often impressed on the poultry keeper. 

A COTTAGE POULTRY-HOUSE. 

As good a mode of rearing fowl as can be adopted is the old custom of 
suffering them to roost on the rafters of the room in which the cottier keeps 
his fire ; and it is, perhaps, owing to the warmth thus afforded to the birds, 
that, during winter, when eggs are scarce, and consequently at a high price, 
they will be procurable from the humble cabin, when they have long 
vanished from the elaborately constructed, but less warm poultry-house of 
the more affluent fancier. 

Should circumstances, however, render the keeping poultry in the cabin 
objectionable or unadvisable, a very sufficient place may be erected for them 
against the outside of the cabin wall ; and, if possible, the part of the wall 
against which the little hut is erected should be that opposite to the fire- 
place within — thus securing the necessary warmth. If shelter be required, 
it can be obtained by means of a few bushes, or a wall of sods ; the neigh- 
boring roads will serve as an ample walk ; the nearest stream will slake 
their thirst. A few laying-nests may be placed in a warm corner of the 
cabin, and the poultry of the poor cottier will thrive as well, and yield as 
great a profit, as those kept in the best appointed establishments. 




COOP AND FEEDING-BOX. 



By confining a hen some hours in the day to the coop, she is prevented 
from rambling into danger, and yet has the liberty of enjoying fresh air. 



HOW TO FEED POULTRY. 



11 



and the pleasure of seeing her chicks run in and out through the bars, re- 
turning to her when her voice warns them to seek shelter with her in the 
friendly coop, on the approach of a shower or of any other danger. The 
instincts of the young birds will generally lead them to obey her voice, 
even though it be that of a step-mother. 




TENT-SHAPED COOPS. 



CHAPTER III. 



HOW TO FEED POULTRY. 



Do NOT feed your hens too highly before they begin to lay, or while lay- 
ing, or immediately after ceasing to lay, unless you wish to fatten them for 
table use ; for as soon as a fowl begins to fatten she stops laying. You must, 
therefore, separate the two classes of fowl, layers and fatteners, at all events 
at feeding time. Make some separate provision for your cocks ; if they are 
only fed in company with the hens, they are apt to think too much of their 
mistresses and to neglect their own appetites ; and recollect that to have 
strong chickens, you must have strong cocks, which an ill-fed bird cannot be 
expected to prove. 

You should also make separate provision for such fowl as are bullied or 
oppressed by the rest. Fowl are much given to Jealousy ; the cock'' s favor is 
sometimes the cause of this, but by no means invariably so, and, indeed, the 
cause is not at all times to be ascertained ; however obscure the causc^ it is 
incumbent on the poultry fancier to prevent the effect^ by adopting the separa- 
tive system at the times I have indicated. I myself have met with instan- 
ces of a rock forming a partiality for a particular hen. In such an occur- 
rence, which is easily recognizable by the cock's continually running at that 
particular bird, to the neglect, or comparative neglect of the others, it is 
better to remove the favorite at once; if you do not do so, quarrels will ensue ; 
this hen will nearly always be made a victim, and in many cases the quar- 
rels on her account will give rise to other and more general affrays. On 
such occasions the cock usually interferes and endeavors to establish peace ; 
he almost invariably does so when the contest is carried on per duello ; 



18 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

when, however, a number of his mistresses fall upon one, his interference is 
of little avail ; and, as if he were conscious of this, in such cases he usually 
leaves the poor favorite to her fate. I have also known a cock to take a 
dislike to a particular hen. This is a much more rare case than the preced- 
ing, and I have no doubt of its cause ; it is this : when a vigorous, healthy 
cock is mated with venj few hens, he is very persevering in his attentions to 
them : when hens are in moult they will not accept of any such attentions. 
In most instances of this kind that have fallen under my own observation, 
I have found the hen thus victimized by her lord to have been moulting, and 
to have incurred his hatred by a refusal of conjugal rights. The cock will 
sometimes fall upon a hen newly introduced into your yard, especially if of 
a different color from his other mates. 

Fowl about a farm-yard can usually pick up a portion of their subsistence, 
and that probably the largest portion, and, of course, in such situations 
poultry-keeping decidedly pays best. I must, however, particularly caution 
my readers against depending for the support, even of their non-fattening 
poultry, wholly upon such precarious resources, and I shall, accordingly, pro- 
ceed in my advice as if no such resources existed. 

The substances that may be used in poultry feeding are very jiumerous 
and various — cabbage, turnips, carrots, parsnips, mangel wurzel, oats, wheat, 
barley, rye, Indian corn, and other grains, substances too well known to re- 
quire, and too numerous to be worth the trouble of enumerating. It will 
not answer to feed fowl wholly upon any one variety of food ; neither will it 
be found advisable to feed wholly upon any one class of food. I must speak 
of the latter point first. Fowl require a mixture of green food with hard 
food, fully as much as horses or cattle do. When the birds have the advan- 
tage of an extensive walk, they will find this for themselves ; when they 
do not possess such an advantage, you must provide green food for them. 
Some do so by providing the birds with cabbages or other greens chopped small. 
My plan is to fasten heads of cabbages, lettuce, rape, or other green herbs, to 
some fixture, by means of their roots, and to let the fowl peck for them- 
selves. This practice not merely prevents waste, but is, in consequence of 
the amusement it affords, decidedly conducive to health. When you find it 
difficult to obtain green food, you will find that turnips will answer equal I3' 
well. To prepare these they should be sliced one way, and then sliced 
across, so as to be cut into small dice. This is troublesome — granted ; but no 
man deserves to have a good stock of poultry, or anything else, if he de- 
clines taking trouble. If it be necessary to employ hired labor for the pur- 
pose, the stock must be very large, and will unquestionably pay. The same 
yellow turnips, boiled soft, and mixed with bran or pollard, or given by 
themselves, are also capital feeding, especially for a change. Carrots and 
parsnips may be used for this purpose, prepared in either of the modes re- 
commended for yellow turnips. Of mangel., as food for poultry, I cannot 



HOW TO FEED POULTRY. 19 

say much, valuable though it decidedly is for other purposes ; the birds do 
not generally like it, and I have found that, even where they do eat it, it 
does anything but promote their laying ; oats are useful as forming a portion 
of fowl's feeding ; but it will not answer ibr keeping them upon altogether ; 
the hulls are very indigestible, and this food is, besides, of too stimulating a 
nature ; yet a few handsful are well spent on your fowl. When damaged 
wheat can be bought at a low price, it may be used for the feeding of poul- 
try with much profit and advantage ; when no such thing can be procured, 
however, and when it is proposed to feed them upon the sound, marketable 
article, it will not pay. The same may be said of barley^ which is also ob 
jectionable as acting in a purgative manner — it is useful as an occasional feed, 
when fowl are over fed. Rye is usually a cheaper description of grain than 
any other, and damaged rye may be used, to a limited extent, with impunity, 
even when affected with the ergot which exercises so powerful an influence 
upon the systems of all female animals possessing a uterus. As this same 
ergot^ however, is frequently the cause of severe illness when human beings 
happen to eat bread made of rye tainted with it, poultry should not be suf- 
fered to eat too freely of it. Indian corn is a most capital food both for store 
and fattening fowl, and may be used in larger quantities than any other. 

The sweepings of grain warehouses, consisting of all kinds of grain, may 
freequently be purchased on cheap terms, and are well suited for poultry, 
but, if given to fowl, the peas and beans must be sifted out. 

One circumstance connected with the feeding of poultry, and that a most 
important one, is not sufficiently well known— I allude to the necessity they 
are under of obtaining animal food. Of course, when the birds possess the 
advantage of an extensive run, they can themselves peck up insects, worms, 
snails, or slugs ; and as in the case of ducks, &c., frogs and other small rep- 
tiles ; but in cases where they do not possess this advantage, it is necessary 
that you cater for them. I have always experienced the best effects, espe- 
cially as manifested in greatly increased laying^ of giving scraps of animal 
food about twice or thrice a-week to the fowl ; the best mode is throw- 
ing down a bullock's liver, leaving it with them and permitting them to 
peck at it ad libitum. This is better in a raw than in a cooked state. 

In winter, in order to supply the place of the insects and other animal 
food they can pick up in summer, I give them once a week fat meat, to- 
gether with any meat bones to peck, and also barley made hot in a saucepan 
without water and given warm. Hot potatoes are always good food, small 
potatoes may be picked out, and steamed for the purpose, if you keep a gar- 
den. But meat is indispensable, if you wish to have eggs in winter. 

Several substances have been at different times recommended as calcula- 
ted to increase the fecundity of the various classes of the feathered inhabi- 
tants of the farm-yard, amongst these, perhaps, hempseed and buckwheat 
are pre-eminent. There can exist no doubt of the peculiar efficacy of these 



20 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

seeds in this respect when properly used, but neither can it be denied that in 
some cases this objectionablencss is undoubted. 

When a hen jsmes, or seems disposed to be thin, you need not hesitate in 
giving buckwheat with even a liberal hand ; but you must so manage as 
not to permit such hens as are disposed to become too fat to share in this 
department of your bounty. According as hens take on fat they usually fall 
off in laying, and this should be particularly kept in mind in feeding. 
When hens are disposed to flesh, you will find hempseed the best promoter 
of laying ; at the same time it will be necessary that you restrict them as 
respects other descriptions of food, fattening and laying being nearly always 
incompatible with each other. 

Fowl of all kinds require sand, gravel, as an aid to digestion, being, in fact, 
necessary to promote trituration in the gizzard, as well as to supply calcare- 
ous matter for their egg-shells. You should, therefore, always have a sup- 
ply placed within their reach. This, I must admit, applies more immedi- 
ately to such fowl as are kept in a confined yard ; when the walk is at all 
extensive, the birds can usually peck up enough for themselves. Fresh- 
water gravel is the best : and if you live near the sea, and wish to use sand 
so easily obtainable from the beach, you should first wash it in two or three 
waters. Where no sand of any kind can be obtained, as in towns, you can 
use chalk, bruised oyster shells, or freestone ; if the latter, you had better 
wash it well first: you will, of course, pound before placing it in the yard. 

I have observed that fowl require a varied dietary. 

In the morning, about seven o'clock, in spring and autumn, but at six in 
summer, let the fowl out, and permit them to roam about till nine, when 
give grain, to the amount of about a handful to every three birds ; they will 
then amuse themselves about the place, during which time they will peck 
up a good deal ; about three o'clock feed them again on grain to about the 
same amount, besides which give whatever potato, turnip, or other refuse is 
going. The liver should lie in the yard, and they can get green feed for 
themselves. In winter the affair assumes another aspect ; all feeding, but 
more particularly the grain, must be greatly increased in quantity. As you 
now cannot procure green food, or at least can only do so with difficulty, 
and at an expense that will seldom pay, you should resort to the chopped 
turnips. 

Cayenne pepper, indeed, all descriptions of pepper, especially the cayenne 
in pods, will be found a favorite with fowl, and will be greedily devoured by 
them ; it acts as a powerful stimulant and remarkably promotes laying, and, 
when mixed in a ground state, with boiled meal, will be found productive 
of the best effects. In this, however, as in every thing else, let moderation 
be your ruling principle. 

A different system should be adopted in treating poultry for the table, and 
for the laying and breeding department. The great secret of having fat 



THE ORIGIN OF OUR DOMESTIC FOWL. 21 

chickens, is never to let them be thin. But, to fatten, you may either en- 
close them in a small space, or absolutely coop them up. Coops should be 
placed in a warm — rather dark place ; be high and large enough for each 
fowl to be comfortable without moving about, not more than three fowl in 
each division, so that they can see without touching each other ; the back 
part of the floor should be grated to allow the dung to fall through, and this 
must be removed every morning. The troughs are generally made too low ; 
they would be better, raised an inch ; and, instead of wood, should be of coarse 
pottery or glass, both of which are very cheap, and can be easily kept clean. 
Starve the fowl for a few hours after cooping, and then supply them fre- 
quently, and at regular intervals, with as much food as they will eat, and no 
more, clearing the trough each time after they have fed. Rice boiled will 
be found very fattening ; and by a constant variety of food, the fowl will be 
induced to eat, and ought to be quite fat in a fortnight. 

But above all, it must be remembered, that to do any good, chickens put 
up for fattening, require regular attention, and at stated hours. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE ORIGIN OF OUR DOMESTIC FOWL. 

The Domestic Fowl, styled by zoologists Gallince^ from the Latin word 
gallus, a cock — is distinguished by having the crown of the head usually 
naked and the skin raised in a fleshy protuberance, called a comb — a protu- 
berance varying in size and form in different varieties. The base of the 
lower mandible (beak) is likewise furnished with fleshy, lobular appenda- 
ges, called wattles ; the tail is carried erect, and is composed of two planes 
folded together at acute angles. In the male, the central feathers of the tail 
are elongated, and fall gracefully over the others. The feathers of the neck 
are ample in quantity, are either long and hackled or short and truncated. 
The plumage of the male bird is characterized by considerable brilliancy 
and beauty ; that of the female is unobtrusive, matronly, and comparatively 
dull. The cock tribe is extremely hardy, and endures all changes of tem- 
perature and climate with impunity, as is proved by these birds being found 
to exist in nearly every country of the world, from the warmest to the 
coldest zone. 

The domestic cock appears to have been known to man from the very 
earliest period. Of his real origin little appears to be known, and the period 
or manner of his first introduction into Greece, or southern Europe, is in- 
volved in the greatest obscurity. The cock has certainly ever held a promi- 
nent position among birds ; he occupied a conspicuous place at the shows 



22 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

of the Greeks and Romans in the days of old ; his effigy was engraved, and 
is still to be seen upon many of the medals and coins ; and he has been 
expressly dedicated to several of their favorite deities — as Apollo, Mercury, 
Mars, and .^sculapius. 

At a Roman banquet this bird formed a principal dish, and poultry v^-ere 
even then carefully reared and fattened, as well as crammed. Nor was the 
pugnacious disposition of the cock even then unknown, or lost sight of, as a 
means of amusing man ; for cock-fighting was seriously entertained and 
encouraged as at once a religious and a political ceremony. The islands of 
Rhodes and Delos are said to have furnished the fattest birds for the table, 
as well as the most enduring and unflinching champions of the ancient cock- 
pit. 

It is strange that a practice so barbarous as that of cock-fighting should 
owe its origin to classic times, and to one of the most learned and enlightened 
nations of antiquity — the Greeks. It vi'as introduced into these islands by 
the Romans, and it was, perhaps, the occasion of making us acquainted with 
the domestic fowl. For a long period cock-fighting was practiced in En- 
gland as a royal pastime, and exhibited as such before public assemblies 
with pomp and show, and it continued to be sanctioned, both by law and 
custom, until about 1730. Up to this time it was — I suppose in allusion to 
the well-known connection this bird had with St. Peters denial of our 
Savior — a favorite amusement at or about Shrovetide, and was even in 
vogue at public schools, with the express sanction of the schoolmaster, who 
furnished the boys with cocks for the purpose. 

However much the cock has occasionally suffered, he has, on the other 
hand, to boast of having ever been regarded as a bird of the very highest 
consequence and respectability. From time immemorial his " shrill clarion" 
has " ushered in the morn ;'' and he has likewise had consigned to him the 
important power of dismissing ghostly visitants to their more appropriate 
dwelling in the tomb. The ghost of Hamlet's father, about to make a most 
important disclosure to his loving son, suddenly hears the crowing of the cock, 
on which he announces no less abruptly that he "snuffs the morning air," 
and leaving half his say unsaid, returns incontinent to all the gloomy and 
unrevealed horrors of his mysterious prison-house. As Shakspeare so 
beautifully writes, too, the office of cock-crowing is likewise, at a certain 
season, rendered still more important — 

" Some say that ever against that season comes, 
Wherein our Savior's birth is celebrated, 
The bird of dawning singeth all night long ; 
And then, they say, no spirit walks abroad. 
The nights are wholesome — then no planets strike, 
No fairy takes, nor witch has power to harm ; 
So hallowed, and so gracious is the time." 

As I have already observed, to pronounce with any degree of certainty. 



THE ORIGIN OF OUR DOMESTIC FOWL. 



23 



as to the original country of the domestic cock, or to refer positively to what 
known wild species we are to look for his primitive type, would prove a 
labor equally difficult and presumptuous, the date of his original domestica- 
tion belonging to so remote a period as to be now wholly lost ; but never- 
theless, there are races of poultry that, still possessing a wild and apparently 
truly feral type, would seem to afford the strongest evidence of originality. 




SONNERAT S JUNGLE FOWL. 



Several authors of the highest respectability and most unquestionable 
erudition — among whom Buffon and Sonnerat — have endeavored to show 
that all the varieties of domestic fowl with which we are now acquainted 
sprang originally from one primitive stock. This opinion has obtained 
many advocates. Zoologists are, in general, apparently possessed with an 
anxious desire to curtail, as much as possible, the number of primitive types 
whence the several races of animals have sprung ; with poultr)'-, however, 
this desire must be frustrated. Dampier saw wild hens at Puloncondar, 
Timor, and St. Jago. Sonnini describes wild cocks which he saw in the 
forests of South America. Temminck procured wUd cocks from Java, 
Sumatra, and Ceylon ; and all these birds differed essentially, in character 
and appearance, from all our then known domestic races — from those found 
by Sonnerat in the Indies — and, finally, from each other. This statement, 
like many other novelties, though scouted at the time by Sonnerat and 
others, whO; bigoted to their own pre-declared opinion, were, of course, in- 
terested in their contradiction, have since been amply and authoritatively 
confirmed. 

I have neither the wish nor the intention to waste my own time, or that 



24 



DOMESTIC FOWL. 



of my readers, by entering upon the useless, unsatisfactory, and often inter- 
minable paths of controversy. 

It has been very generally supposed, and most commonly asserted, that 
the domestic cock owes his origin to the Jungle fowl of India. I hold that 
he does not — that he, in fact, differs as much from that bird as one fowl can 
well differ from another ; they will certainly breed together, but so will the 
hare and rabbit. Read, however, the following description of the Jungle 
fowl, and, if you can, point out its counterpart among our domestic stock : — 

It is about one-third less than our common dunghill cock, being (the comb 
not included in the measurement) about twelve or fourteen inches in height. 
The comb is indented, and the wattles certainly bear some slight resem- 
blance to those of our common cock ; but the naked parts of the head and 




JAVANESE JUNGLE FOWL. 

throat are much more considerable. The feathers of the head and neck are 
longest on the lowest parts, and differ both in structure and aspect from those 
of other cocks, whether wild or tame. The Jungle hen is smaller than the 
cock, has neither comb nor wattles, and the throat is entirely covered with 
feathers — a very remarkable distinction from our domestic hens. The space 
round the eye is naked, and of a reddish color ; the under parts are furnished 
with plumage, similar to that of the same parts of the cock : but, in addi- 
tion to these peculiarities, the Jungle cock possesses still another, which, 
however, the hen does not share with him — viz., the mid-rib, and stem of a 
portion of the feathers is considerably expanded, forming a white stripe along 
the whole feather, as far as the tip, where it expands, becomes broader, and 
forms a gristly plate of a rounded form, whitish, thin, and highly polished; 
this gristly substance is still more remarkable on the wing feathers than on 



THE ORIGIN OF OUR DOMESTIC FOWL. , 20 

any other part, the tip, indeed, of the wing feathers forming a less brilliant 
plate, solid as horn, and as firm and unyielding to the touch. These plates 
are of a deep red color, and by their union, form a plate of red maroon 
which looks as if it were varnished. 

There are, however, two wild-cocks in which we find sufficient points of 
resemblance to our domestic varieties, and these answer the purpose of ter- 
minating our somewhat unsatisfactory search. I allude to the gigantic bird 
or Jago fowl of Sumatra, and to the diminutive denizen of the wilds of Java. 
The reasons for supposing these two birds to be the veritable originals of 
our domestic poultry, may be summed up briefly thus : — 

I. — The close resemblance subsisting between their females and our do- 
mestic hens. 

II. — The size of our domestic cock being intermediate between the two, 
and alternating in degree, sometimes inclining towards the one, and some- 
times towards the other. 

III. — The nature of their feathers, and their general aspect, the form and 
mode of distribution of their barbs being the same as in our domestic fowl. 

IV. — In these two birds do we alone find the females provided with a 
crest and small wattles, characteristics not to be met with in any other 
known wild species. You will meet with these characteristics in the highly 
bred Spanish fowl. 

Notwithstanding these analogies, however, domestication has so changed 
the form of the body, and of its fleshy appendages, that we might find it 
rather a difficult task to refer any modern individual variety to its primi- 
tive stock : we must, in order to understand fully the causes that pro- 
duce this difficulty, recollect the . constant, and frequently careless, crossing 
one bird with another, and the very frequently promiscuous intercourse that 
takes place in a state of domesticity, taking, likewise, into consideration 
changes of climate, variety of treatment, and numerous other causes. 

We cannot, however, find any difficulty in at once recognizing the large 
and powerfully-limbed bird of Sumatra (called also the Jago fowl) , the 
appropriately styled " Gigantic Cock," or Gallus giganteus of zoologists, as 
the original type to which we owe the Paduan and Sancevarre varieties. 

To the more diminutive Bankiva cock, we are, on the other hand, in- 
debted for the smaller varieties, improperly designated Bantams, and the, so- 
called, Turkish fowl. By crossing, peculiarities of climate, management, 
&c., have been produced from these : — 

I. — The cock with small crest and wattle?, furnished, also, with a tuft of 
feathers, which some writers have supposed to be produced by the juices that 
ordinarily go to furnish nourishment for the comb taking another form, and 
developing themselves in the production of the tuft. These approximate 
most nearly to the original Sumatra stock, and we may recognize their do- 
mestic representative in the varieties of the Polish breed. 



26 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

II. — The ordinary cock, provided with comb and wattles, but no crest or 
tuft of feathers : this seems the intermediate variety. 

III. — Diminutive cocks, ordinarily known as Bantams, with, in some 
varieties, the tarsi and toes covered with feathers ; but this is not invariably 
the case. 

I should here describe the two races to which I have stated it as my 
opinion, that we are indebted for our domestic varieties. 

The wild cock, justly termed the '* Gallus giganteus," and called by 
3Iarsden the " Jago Fowl," is frequently so tall as to be able to peck 
crumbs without difficulty from an ordinary dinner-table. The weight is 
usually from ten to thirteen or fourteen pounds. The comb of both cock 
and hen is large, crown shaped, often double, and sometimes, but not invaria- 
bly, with a tufted crest of feathers, which occurs with the greatest fre- 
quency, and grows to the largest size in the hen. The voice is strong and 
very harsh, and the young do not arrive at full plumage until more than 
half grown. 

There was. some years ago, in the Edinburgh Museum of Natural His- 
tory, a very fine specimen of the Jago fowl ; it was said to have been 
brought direct from Sumatra, and, in most respects, closely resembled the 
common large varieties of domestic cock. In this specimen the comb 
extended backwards in a line with the eyes: was thick, slightly raised, and 
rounded on the top, almost as if it had been cut ; the throat bare, and fur- 
nished with two small wattles. The neck and throat hackles of a golden 
reddish color, some of them also springing before the bare space of the 
throat : the hackles about the rump, and base of the tail, pale reddish yel- 
low, long and pendent : the center of the back, and smaller wing coverts, of 
a deep chestnut brown, the feathers having the webs disunited ; the tail very 
full, and of a glossy green color. The greater wing coverts of a glossy 
green, with the secondaries and quills of a faint golden yellow : under parts 
of a deep, glossy, blackish green, with the base of the feathers a deep 
chestnut brown, occasionally interrupted, so as to produce a mottled appear- 
ance. This bird measured very nearly thirty inches in height, comb in- 
cluded, and making allowance for the shrinking of the skin ; the living bird 
must have been upwards of thirty-two inches high. 

The Bankiva fowl is a native of Java, and is characterized by a red, in- 
dented comb, red wattles, and ashy-grey legs and feet. The comb of the 
cock is scolloped, and the tail elevated a little above the rump, the feathers 
being disposed in the form of tiles or slates : the neck feathers are gold 
color, long, dependent, and rounded at the tips : the head and neck are of a 
fawn color: the wing coverts a dusky brown and black : tail and belly black. 
The color of the hen is a dusky ash-grey and yellow : her comb and wattles 
much smaller than those of the cock, and, with the exception of the long 
hackles, she has no feathers on her neck. These fowl are exceedingly wild, 



SELECTION OF STOCK. 27 

and inhabit the skirts of woods, forests, and other wild and unfrequented 
places. These Bankiva fowl are very like our Bantams, and, like those 
pretty little birds, are also occasionally to be seen feathered to the feet and 
toes. 



CHAPTER V. 

SELECTION OF STOCK, AND CHOICE OF COCK AND HENS FOR SITTING. 

Columella is, perhaps, among the earliest authorities we can cite on the 
subject of the breeding and management of poultry, and he thus delivers 
himself on a very important subject, viz., the nuinber of hens to be allotted 
to each individual cock : — 

''Twelve hens shall be enough for one good cock, which will cause the 
progeny to be more of a color ; but yet our ancestors used to give only five 
hens to one cock, thus producing a diversity of color. To have the hens all 
of one color is preferable, some white, and these are considered the best 
layers." 

Bradly, in his Farmers' Director, advises one cock to be left with seven 
or eight hens, and hints that if a greater number be allowed him, the eggs 
will not prove fertile. The author of the Complete Farmer, and the writer 
of the article on poultry, in Rees' Encyclopedia, recommend the same number. 

M. Parmentier, a very eminent French writer, says, that one cock is much 
more than sufficient for fifteen, o'r even twenty hens, provided he be a young, 
vigorous and healthy bird. 

Those who breed game fowl for combat, and whose object is, of course, 
the production of strong chickens, limit the number to four, or at most fire. 
Mr. ^Mowbray says, that in winter, or cold and damp weather, a cock should 
only have four hens. M. Bose {Encyclopedia Methodique) says, that in spring 
alone should any cock have fewer than twenty hens. M. Dickson says, 
that the number of hens allowed to one cock should vary with the object 
you have in view; and Mr. Nolan, a most excellent judge, thinks that in 
order to secure a prime breed, a cock two years old should not have more 
than five hens. 

If you look for profit to the production of eggs alone, I should say that one 
cock — if a stout, young, and lively bird — may have as many as twenty-four 
hens. If, however, you want to obtain strong and thriving chickens, you 
must restrict him to six, or at most, eight. If your object be the improve- 
ment of a worn-out or degenerate breed, the fewer hens you allow to one 
cock the better, and you should not, at any rate, allow him more than three. 

As to the selection of a good cock. Columella thus instructs us: — "It is 



28 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

not good to keep a cock if he be not stout, hot and knavish, and of the same 
color as the hens are, and with as many claws ; but in his body to be higher 
raised, his comb to be high and red as blood, and straight withal ; his eyes 
black or azure color ; his beak short and crooked, with a grey crest, shining 
like red or white, and all his feathers, from the head to the breast, to be of a 
changeable color, varying like gold or yellow; his heart large and big; his 
muscles on his wings big like one's arm, with long wings ; his tail fair and 
long, with two ranks of crooked and rising feathers ; and to be oft crowing 
is a sign of lusty courage. The red color is thought to be the best cock; 
his legs short and strong, his thighs great and thick, and well covered with 
feathers, and his legs armed with long spurs, rough and pointed — straight in 
body, light, fierce, eager in battle, vigilant, ready, and often crowing, and not 
easily feared." 

Markham, in " Cheap and Good Husbandries^' almost repeats the direc- 
tions of Columella verbatim, and guarantees their correctness with the au- 
thority of his own opinion. 

M. Parmentier recommends the cock to be chosen of a middling size, car- 
rying the head high, having a quick, animated look, strong, shrill voice, short 
bill, very red comb, large wattles, broad breast, strong wings, black or dull 
red plumage, thighs muscular, spurs strong, claws bent and sharp, free in his 
action, a frequent crower, and frequently scratching the ground in search of 
worms, not, however, for himself but to treat the hens. 

Not to weary my readers with an unnecessary citation of too many au- 
thorities, I may just observe, for their direction, that the cock should be in 
perfect health : feathers close and rather short, chest compact and firm ; full 
in the girth ; lofty and elastic gait ; thigh large and firm ; beak short, and 
thick at its insertion. 

Next to health and strength, age is to be duly considered. Neither select 
a cock that is too old, nor one that is too young ; let the age be from a year 
and a half to three years and a half Some cocks retain their vigor till thay 
are even past six years old, and some make a display of unquestionable 
virility at the premature age of five or six months. It is far better, however, 
for the fancier "to be sure than sorry." Secure a young and vigorous bird 
at the summit of his prime, steer equally clear of premature and often decep- 
tive developments, and of incipient age and decrepitude — avoid all extremes. 

Mascall, following Columella and Stephanus, says — "The signs of a good 
hen are these — a tawny color or a russet are accounted the chiefest colors ; 
and next, those hens which have the pens of their wings blackish, not all 
black, but partly so. As for the grey and the white hens, they are nothing 
so profitable." 

Markham tells us that we must lay even more stress on the selection of a 
hen than on the choice of a cock, and insists on "grey, grissel, speckt, or 
yellowish — black or brown is not amiss." 



SELECTION OF STOCK. 29 

These directions may have been all very well in olden times, ere the many 
new and valuable varieties of fowl now known were familiar to the poultry- 
yard, but as far as color is concerned, they can no longer be followed, unless 
with respect to the common Dunghill breed. Among these latter you may, 
of course, make what selection you please as to color, but the more valuable 
and distinctly marked varieties have each its own hue, and you must, 
consequently, just take them as you get them. Perhaps the best mode of 
forming a conclusion as to the most profitable color would be to keep a 
memorandum-book, and to enter regularly the age, color, and eveiy other 
particular connected with your hens ; and, of course, keep also a correct ac- 
count of their proceeds, whether as to eggs or chickens. The average of a 
year's experience might lead to some satisfactory conclusion. 

The disposition of the cock and hens should likewise become a subject of 
careful observation. Some cocks are of an unsocial, unconjugal disposition — 
will persecute and maltreat their hens, and will, if even they leave them 
alone, direct their domineering practices towards the younger inmates of the 
poultry-yard. 

It is often necessary to change the cock, or replace one removed by death, 
and I must caution my readers to manage this with the utmost possible cir- 
cumspection. Poultry, although naturally gregarious, are by no means in- 
discriminate in their attachments, and hens will not, in every instance, ad- 
mit the company of a new husband when his predecessor has been removed. 

Sometimes you will suffer annoyance from the pugnacity of your cocks. 
This pugnacity is said to arise from an unusually amorous temperament, and 
a consequent jealousy of disposition. Mascall, or rather his original. Col- 
umella, recommends, as a cure for this — " To slake that heat of jealousie, he 
shall slitte two pieces of thick leather, and put them on his legges, and those 
will hang over his feete, which will correct the vehement heat of jealousies 
within him." And M, Parmentier confirms this direction, adding, that 
" such a bit of leather will cause the most turbulent cock to become as quiet 
as a man who is bound hand and foot." 

Although the cock can by no means boast much of the melody of his voice, 
he will on no account suffer himself to be out-crowed if he can help it ; hence, 
you may observe a cock pause after each crow, in order to ascertain if he be 
answered by a rival, and the succeeding vocal attempt will, if possible, be 
yet louder and more discordant. 

Cocks and hens are both fond of cleanliness and order in their plumage, and 
are, especially the former, constantly pecking and pruning their feathers. It 
was formerly, but erroneously, supposed, that during this process an oily 
fluid, secreted in the gland near the tail, was extracted from its receptacle by 
the pressure of the beak, and then disseminated over the remainder of the 
plumage, as a process necessary to render the feathers waterproof. In order 
to dissipate this illusion, I need only observe, that the tail-less fowl, though 



30 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

they are desfitule of that jiart of the hody where tliis gland is situated, and 
have, consequently, no oil to extract, go through precisely the same process 
of pecking and priming, and their feathers are just as much waterproof as 
those of any other fowl. In my opinion, this fondness of pecking and pru- 
ning is partly a provision of nature, designed to relieve some irritation in the 
skin, and thus conduce to health, and partly proceeds from a pure love of 
cleanliness and regularity in the plumage, inherent in all varieties of fovs'l. 

In the choice of a hen for sitting, look for a large bird, with large, wide- 
spreading wings. Though large, however, she must not be heavy, nor leggy. 
No one of any judgment would set a Malay hen, as, in such case, not only 
would many eggs remain uncovered, but many, also, would be tram})Ied upon 
and broken. Elderly hens will be fonnd more willing to sit than young and 
j;iddy pullets ; indeed, the latter siiould never be allowed to sit, until, at least, 
the second year of their laying. 

The Spanish fowl are not generally good sitters; but they are excellent 
layers. The Dorking reverse the order, Wing better sitters than layers ; and 
these qualities will also be found to extend pretty generally to hens parta- 
kiiig of the prevailing colors of these two varieties, the black being usually 
the best layers, and but careless or indiflerent sitters ; while grey or checkered 
hens (especially such as have light colored legs) are the best you can pro- 
cure for sitting hens. 

You will be informed of a hen's anxiety to sit, by a peculiar change in 
her voice to a distinctive clurk, which continues after hatching, until the 
chickens no longer require her maternal care. The heat of the hen's body 
is also materially increased ; hence, when it is desired to check a hen's anx- 
iety to sit, the common practice for allaying this heat is immersion in cold 
water. 

If you entertain doubts of the steadiness of the hen you desire to set, try 
her constancy by placing her for a few days on some pieces of chalk shaped 
so as to resemble eggs, or put her on three or four eggs of little or no value. 

If you desire to have chickens produced at some particular time, when 
you have no hen ready to sit, you may induce the desire of incubation by 
stimulating food — such as toast, or dry bread steeped in good ale, well-boiled 
oatmeal porridge, with a little Cayenne pepper mixed through it, or hard- 
boiled eggs, and fresh raw meat, cut small. Fomenting the belly with vin- 
egar, in which pepper has been steeped, is a good practice. But do not suf- 
fer any one to persuade you to pluck off the feathers, or to use nettles — prac- 
tices more cruel than eilicacious. Artificial warmth is also never to be lost 
sight of. 

If yon find a hen soon tire, or become impatient of sitting, only give her 
about half the usual quantity of food, and then, when she returns to the nest, 
feed from the hand with such dainties as you have found to be her favorites. 
Some will recommend the food to be placed within the hen's reach, in order 



SELECTION OF EGGS FOR HATCHING. 3% 

that hunger, at all events, may not be a means of inducing her to leave her 
important post. It is not, however, hunger that induces the impatience to 
which I have alluded; and this total deprivation of exercise is most preju- 
dicial to the poor bird's health. For the first and last week of incubation, 
however, the hen .should only be allowed to quit the nest once daily, and 
should not be longer than ten minutes ab.sent from the eggs. 

Some hens, on the other hand, are as obstinately con.stant in their sitting 
ixs those I have been describing are the reverse ; and birds possessing tViis 
temperament, will frequently sit until they half starve themselves, if not 
prevented. Mr. Lawrence says, that be has had hens which, under these 
circumstances, reduced themselves to such a pitch of weakness as even to 
faint ; and, after the chickens were hatched, to be so weak as to be scarcely 
able to attend them. 

Markham scouts the idea of any hen sitting too long, but he is in error. I 
would not, as some do, recommend such a hen to be fed upon her nest, but I 
would remove her at proper intervals, and coax her to eat by presenting her 
•.vith delicacies. If she consent to eat a sufficiency, drinking will be sure to 
follow. I may here observe, that if a hen acquire the evil habit of breaking 
and eating her egg.s, boil an egg hard, break away a little of the shell, and 
give it to her while hot. If she peck at it. and, of course, burn herself, you 
may reckon upon having cured her of her vicious propensity ; but should the 
first painful lesson prove ineffectual, try a second. You will seldom or never 
have to resort to a third. I think that experience justifies me in arriving at 
the conclusion that this habit originates in a craving for calcareous matter, 
which I have already stated to be necessary to the well-being of fowl. If 
your hens be supplied with chaljc and sand your eggs will not be touched. 

To preserve eggs for hatching, pack them with the small end downward 
in sand, wood ashes, turf, oats, or other material, for excluding air. But if 
they are to be kept any length of time, dip them, when new laid, in oil or pure 
hog's-lard warm — not hot ; rub the greasy substance into the pores with the 
finger, and then pack them with the small end downwards in a box or bar- 
rel. For a sea voyage, a co.it of varnish would be an experiment worth 
tr)'ing. Care should be taken to push them closely, so that they may be 
shaken as little as may be. 



82 DOMESTIC FOWL. 



CHAPTER VI. 

SELECTION OF EGGS FOR SETTING THEIR MANAGEMENT DURING INCUBA- 
TION — AND TREATMENT OF THE CHICK AFTER HATCHING. 

Lt selecting eggs for setting, bear in mind what I have said as to the number 
of hens that the cock should associate with; and choose such eggs as you 
have reason to believe have been rendered productive. Those of medium 
size, that is to say. the average size that the hen lays, are most apt to prove 
prolific. Sketchley tells us that he has always found the round egg to con- 
tain the female chick, and that of oblong shape, the male. This, however, 
though it may have been newly discovered by Sketchley, was known to 
Columella and Stephanus. If you examine the egg between your eye and a 
candle, you will be able to discern the jxtsition of the vacancy caused by the 
little air-bag at the blunt end of the shell. If this be in the center, say these 
authors, the egg will province a cock ; if at one side, a hen. This doctrine, 
however, has long been abandoned by physiologists, and uiK)n the best au- 
thority ; nevertheless, though I have no faith in those who pretend to tell 
the sex of the chickens from the eggs, you may form a verv* fair judgment 
if your eggs are impregnated, from their specilic gravity. Put them into a 
bowl of tepid water, and reject such as do not sink to the bottom. Choose, 
also, such as present a marked disjmrity o{ size between the two ends ; and 
while collecting, keep the eggs dry, clean, and in a well ventilated part of 
the house. Such as are equal in size at both ends, usually contain two yolks ; 
and these, be it observed, instead of producing twin-chickens, as might 
naturally be expected, commonly produce monstrosities : reject them. The 
number of eggs to be placed under a hen is from nine to eleven. The num- 
ber is, however, of course, dependent on the size of both eggs and hen ; an 
odd number is to be preterred, as being better adapted for covering^ in the nest. 
Be sure that they are all fresh ; and carefully note down the day on which 
you place them beneath the hen. Never turn the eggs ; the hen can do that 
better than you. About the twelfth day of incubation, you may be enabled 
to reject such eggs as are unfruitful. For this purpose, hold the egg between 
your hands in the sunshine; if the shadow which it forms, waver, keep the 
egg, as the wavering of the shadow is occasioned by the motion of the chick 
within ; if it remain stationary, throw it away. Jf your eggs have been 
recently laid, the cliick will be developed earlier than otherwise ; if they 
have been very fresh, you will, about the sixteenth day, if you apply your 
ear to the egg. hear a gentle piping noise within ; if the eggs have been stale, 
this will not be perceptible until about the eighteenth day ; and, at this time, 
the yolk, which had previously lain outside and aroimd the chicken, will be 
gradually entering into the body of the bird. This serves as nourishment to 



SELECTION OF EGGS FOR HATCHING. 33 

the little prisoner until his subsequent efforts shall have set him free. From 
this period let your attention be assiduous, but, at the same time, cautious; 
for the hen has heard this cry before you have, and all her maternal anxieties 
and tenderness are, from that moment, so greatly augmented, that any unne- 
cessary interference will only tend to irritate her. 




FIRST STAGE IN INCUBATION. 




MIDDLE STAGE IN INCUBATION. 




CHICK JUST BEFORE HATCHING. 

Eggs during the process of hatching, broken to show the means for supplying nutri- 
ment to the chick. 
2* 



."^4 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

The position which the chick holds within the egg, is apparently anything 
but advantageous for the work of breaking forth ; and, hence, if the young- 
ling be weakly, artificial aid is sometimes necessar}-. This position would, 
indeed, almost induce one to regard the liberation of the chick by its own 
unassisted efforts, as an impossibility. I shall describe it briefly : — The 
neck slopes toward the belly, to about the centre of which comes the head ; 
the head lies beneath the right wing, just as that of a sleeping bird ; the feet 
are gathered up somewhat like those of a fowl trussed for the spit, and the 
claws bend backwards, till they almost touch the head ; and it is in this con- 
fined position that the shelly wall of the prison has to be broken through. 
It must, therefore, be anything but easy work for the little chick. The pro- 
cess of effecting the breaking of the shell, is a succession of taps from the 
beak, by which first a crack or siar^ with many cracks diverging from it, 
takes place ; a hole is soon effected, the sides gradually chip away, and the 
chicken emerges from its new sphere of being. Sometimes the little bird, 
on proceeding to leave the broken shell, unexpectedly fiijds itself retained in 
its place by some accidental or irregular circumstance. The shell may, for 
instance, have been well cracked, and yet its lining membrane may be so 
tough as to defy all the efforts of the irmiate to rupture it, and thus still pre- 
sent a barrier, and often, without assistance, an insurmountable one. Some 
chickens icaste their time striving to tear this membrane before they have 
made a sufficient crack in the shell. These had better not receive assist- 
ance ; they w^ill speedily find out their error, and go to work in a proper 
manner. 

In ever>' case look through the egg before helping the chick. That chicken 
which comes out before the whoie of the yoke has been absorbed, will assur- 
edly prove to be an unhealthy, weakly, little wretch, and will speedily die. 
A chicken must, previous to leaving the shell, have imbibed such a portion 
of nutriment as will, at least, serve it for four-and-twenty hours afterward : 
it is for this that the yolk is designed. Any unusual excess of light, or any 
injudicious interference with the eggs toward the close of incubation, will 
nearly always result in causing the chicken to strive to get out too soon, and 
thus often occasion the loss of numbers. 

Neither are all shells, nor all membranes, of an equal thickness, and some 
are even pretematurally obstinate ; hence another difficulty the chick has 
to experience. 

Some poultrj' keepers will dip the eggs into warm water the day before 
they think they will be pecked at. This produces no perceptible difference 
in the consistence of the shell ; and I object to the practice, not only on the 
score of its total inutility, but as being Likely to injure the present health of 
the chick ; and the warmth is likewise specially calculated to produce ano- 
ther difficult}' connected with its egress, viz., that of being g-/u erf to the shell, 



SELECTION OF EGGS FOR HATCHING. 35 

the white of egg — the albumm which surrounds the chicken in the shell — 
being convertible by heat into a kind of Glue. 

The Ibllowing is, perhaps, the only case in which interference can prove 
useful :— When you find the fracture on the outside of the shell remaining 
the same for five or six hours, and when, on examining the edges of this 
fracture, you find them dry and unmoistened by any fluid, you may conclude 
that assistance is called for, and may proceed to render it, but, of course, with 
all possible caution. The best mode to be adopted on such occasions is to 
imitate, as nearly as possible, the natural efforts, of the chicken itself, which 
may be done by sharp, short strokes with the back of a knife or key ; or, 
what is better than either, the point of a pair of scissors. Be, however, 
gentle, firm, and deliberate, and take care lest you penetrate the cavity 
of the egg. Having succeeded in making a sufficient opening in the shell, 
you may, by a careful and tender use of your fingers, extricate the chick. 
Sometimes a few scales of albumen, or of the lining membrane of the egg, 
may remain on the bird's plumage for some days. Do not be uneasy about 
them. Leave them alone, and as they dry they will fall off themselves. In 
affording your assistance to the embarrassed chick, be extremely tender with 
your fingers. You may otherwise often kill when your intention is only to 
cure. I would be disposed to permit at least eight hours to elapse before 1 
resorted to mechanical means of interference. A chick so weak as to perish 
before that time, is not worth striving to extricate ; and, on the score of 
humanity, its death within the shell will be less painful than after quit- 
ting it. 

For about twenty-four hours after birth, the chick not only can do well 
enough without any extraneous nourishment, but will positively be far more 
likely subsequently to thrive if left alone. The next day they may be fed with 
crumbs of bread, eggs boiled hard and chopped fine, or cold oatmeal porridge 
well boiled. After that period, no harm can arise from turning your new 
brood in among older chicks that already feed themselves. They will then 
ordinarily follow the example of the rest, and peck away at whatever is going. 
In the first four days they require food at least hourly, to supply the rapid 
increase in bulk and feathers. Damp is fatal to them. If the breed is a fine 
one, however, they will do better with the hen, partaking of the natural 
food she scrapes together for them. 

Although I have mentioned yolks of eggs, boiled hard, and broken down 
with crumbs of bread, as food for young chickens, I consider this treatment to 
be needlessly expensive, except in particular cases ; and I have found plain 
crumbs, or cold meal porridge, that has been very well boiled, and not burned, 
do nearly as well. Small grained meal, given raw, or slightly scalded, and suf- 
fered to cool down to a very low degree of tepidity, will also be found useful 
and good. Do not forget that, in all probability, thirst will be present before 
hunger, and there ought, therefore, always to be a flat, shallow pan or plate of 



36 



DOMESTIC FOWL. 



clean spring water left within reach, and the hen herself, glad of a little re- 
freshment after so long a task, will usually lead the way to it. 

If the chickens he hatched during cold weather they will require artificial 
warmth, or, at the very least, comfortable housing. The kitchen of a farm- 
house will afford this in perfection. Recollect that setting your hen in, or at 
the approach of, winter, is stark folly ; freedom from annoyance, comfortable 
housing, and a sheltered walk, are all that they require — an hour's sunshine 
is worth more than a year's wrapping up in tow. If your chicks be very 
weakly you may cram them with crumbs of good white bread steeped in 
milk ; but at the same time recollect that their little crops are not capable of 
holding more than the bulk of a pea — so rather under than over feed. If 
your hen have been much exhausted by hatching, you will do well to cram 
her with crumbs of bread steeped in diluted spirits or ginger cordial. 

The following hatching table exhibits the period of incubation with the 
denizens of the poultry yard : — 

Number of eggs. Days. 



Swan 


5 to 10 


42. 


Goose 


12 to 15 


30. 


Duck 


12 to 15 


30. 


Turkey 


15 to 20 


31. 


Teafowl . 


5 to 7 


29. 


Guinea Fowl 


7 to 9 


30. 


Hen . 


9 to 13 


21 



CHAPTER VII. 



VARIETIES OF THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 



The varieties of the Domestic Fowl 
lion may be classed as follows : — 

1. The Malay Fowl, from its size and 
strength, is admirably adapted for 
crossing with the Dorking and other 
native breeds. 

2. The Java Fowl, nearly resembling, 
and in the opinion of some, identical 
with, the Malay. 

3. The Cochin China breed, equal in 
most respects, and more prolific than 
the Malay. 

4. The Spanish Fowl, perhaps the best 
breed known for laying. 

6. The Polish Fowl, a noble and very 

beautiful bird, and an excellent layer. 

6. The Spangled Varieties, including 

the whole class of Gold and Silver 

Spangled, known in different coun- 



most desirable in an amateur's collec- 

tries as Spangled Hamburghs, Every 
day Dutch, Bolton Bays, Bolton Greys, 
Chittyprats, Creoles, Corals, &c. 

7. The Speckled and White Dorking, 
the most delicate of all the varieties 
for the table. 

8. The Sussex Fowl, most probably a va- 
riety of the Dorking. 

9. The Game Fowl, graceful of form and 
plumage, with undying courage, and 
excellent for crossing with common 
varieties. 

10. The Pheasant Fowl, erroneously saiid 
to originate in a cross with the Cock 
Pheasant. 

11. The Bantams, more remarkable for 
their beauty than any other quality. 



VARIETIES OF THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 



37 



I. THE MALAY FOWL. 



The Malay Fowl has, as its name implies, been brought originally from 
the peninsula of that name at the southern point of the continent of India. 
He stands very high on the legs, is long-necked, serpent-headed, and is in 




color usually dark brown, streaked with yellow, sometimes, however, 
white ; his form and appearance are grand and striking in the extreme, and 
he is no small embellishment to the poultry-yard. This fowl is also fre- 
quently called the Chittagong. 

The kind of Malay fowl, however, that were originally imported, were by 
no means such birds as I could recommend to the notice of the breeder, their 
size possessing too much offal, as neck, legs, and thighs, and the flesh, more- 
over, being dark-colored and oily. Another variety has been since intro- 
duced, which is well worthy of our attention. As a cross, this Malay has, 
indeed, proved a most valuable addition to our poultry-yard, the cross-breed 
possessing all the hardiness of our native domestic fowl, with the gigantic 
size of the foreign stock. 

11. THE JAVA FOWL. 

Resembling the Malay in shape, but presenting, in portions of its plum- 
age, the coloring of the Dorking. I hold this, its common appellation, to be 
a misnomer, and regard it as the result of a cross between a Malay and 



^S DOMF.STIC FOWL. 

Dorking: or Spanish. In qualities it resembles the Malay, but is not so val- 
uable as a cross with other breeds. 

THE SHAKEBAG. 

A good many years ago, there used to be a variety of fowl much in re- 
quest in England, called the "shakebag," or the ''Duke of Leeds' fowl," his 
grace, of that name, about 60 or 70 years ago, having been a great amateur 
breeder of them. These fowl were as large as the Malays, but differed 
from them in the superior whiteness and tenderness of their flesh, as also in 
their very superior fighting abilities. The name of this fowl seems to have 
arisen from the old practice of cock-fighting, when the fancy used to chal- 
lenge a/l comers having their cocks concealed in a bag, and the tremendous 
size and power of the Duke of Leeds' fowl proving so far superior to all 
competitors, thus usually insuring conquest, and eventually obtaining for it 
the name, pa7- excellence, of shakcbng, since corrupted into Shackbag. 

This fine bird was not unfrequently substituted for a turkey, and this to 
the great convenience of poulterers and inn-keepers. 

This " shakebag'' or " shackbag" fow'l, so lauded by Mowbray, but with 
the real origin of which he has confessed himself unacquainted, unless, in- 
deed, as an improved breed of dunghill, would appear, if we can judge from 
the description of Dixon and other writers on poultry, to have been neither 
more nor less than an offshoot of the great Paduan, Polish, or Jago fowl, 
the immediate domesticated descendant of the ''Gallus giganteus," already 
described ; and I have particularly to request my readers on no account to 
confound it with the ^lala}-. This fowl would, indeed, seem to have been 
almost identical with the great wild bird of Sumatra, but it is now altogether 
unknown to the London dealers. This same fowl was described, about two 
centuries and a half ago, by Aldrovand, as " very handsome, adorned with 
live different colors— viz., black, white, green, red, and yellow ; body black, 
tinged with green, tail of the same color ; base of the feathers white ; some 
quill feathers of the wings white above; the head adorned with a black 
crest." 

III. TUE COCHIN CUI.\A FOWL. 

This gigantic bird has been only very recently introduced into Great Bri- 
tain and America. The breed have since become comparatively well known 
and diffused. 

This variety of fowl so far surpasses, both in size and power, all that we 
have ever yet seen in the shape of poultry, as to have led many persons not 
conversant with zoology, on first viewing them, to refer them to the family 
of Bustards. They are, however, genuine poultry. Their general color 
is rich glossy brown, or deep bay; on the breast is sometimes found a mark- 
ing of a blackish color, and of the shape of a horse-shoe.' The horse-shoe 
mark on the breast is not an infallible sign of the breed. The comb is of a 



VARIETIES OF THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 



39 




THE COCHIN CHINA HEN. 



40 



DOMESTIC FOWL. 



medium size, sometimes, but not always, serrated — but not deeply so ; and 
the wattles are double. Besides their gigantic size, however, these fowls 
possess other distinctive characteristics, among which I may mention, as the 
most striking, that the wing is jointed, so that the posterior half can at plea- 
sure be doubled up and brought forward between the anterior half and the 
body. The birds can do this at pleasure ; and the appearance the manoeuvre 
imparts to their form has procured for them the title of "ostrich fowl." The 
flesh is white and delicate. The eggs laid by the hen of this variety are 




SHANGHAIS. 



large, of a light chocolate color, and possess a very delicate flavor. They are 
very prolific, not unfrequently laying two and occasionally even three egg? 
on the same day, and within a few moments of each other. The Cochin 
China fowl is well known in America under the name of Shanghai, being 
the same fowl with another name. 



IV. THE SPANISH FOWL. 

This fowl is clad in black plumage, but possesses quite the reverse of 
black flesh. I regard these birds as the result of the highest possible arti- 
ficial culture, and adduce, in support of my opinion, their unusually large 
comb and wattles, characteristics not commonly to be met with among the 
primitive varieties. 



VARIETIES OF THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 



41 



The Spanish fowl is, perhaps, a little inferior in size to the old " shake- 
bag," but in every other quality, wherein excellence and value are to be 
looked for. it is more than 
that bird's equal. The color 
of the Spanish fowl is a 
glossy black, and the fea- 
thers of the legs, thighs, and 
belly are particularly decided 
in their hue, and of a velvety 
aspect. It is a stately bird, 
and of a grave and majestic 
deportnnent, and is, in either 
utility or beauty, to be sur 
passed by none of its con- 
geners. One of the most 
striking characteristics of 
this fowl is a white cheek, 
and the comb and wattles are 
singularly large, simple, and 
of a very high color ; the 
feet and legs are of a leaden 
color, except the soles of the 
feet, which are of a dirty 
fleshy hue. A full grown 
cock will weigh about 7 5 

lbs. ; the hen about 65. This is a fowl well deserving the attention of the 
breeder, and present no peculiarities of constitution that would suggest diffi- 
culties in either hatching or rearing. As table birds they hold a place in the 
very first rank, their flesh being particularly white, tender and juicy, and the 
skin possessing that beautifully clear white hue, so essential a requisite for 
birds designed for the consumption of the gourmand. The hens are likewise 
layers of the first order ; and of all naturalized or indigenous varieties of 
fowl, with the exception of the Columbian, these lay the largest and the 
best flavored eggs. They are, besides, prolific, extremely easily fed, and, in 
short, I know of no fowl I would rather recommend to the notice of the 
breeder ; but let me here observe, that spurious specimens of this fowl are 
often in the market, which will occasion, perhaps, an equal outlay at their 
original purchase — will decidedly cost as much to feed — be, perhaps, harder 
to rear, but will most unquestionably not bring in an equal return in the way 
of profit. By applying, in the first instance, to a breeder of known respec- 
tability, you will avoid much disappointment ; and though you may conceive 
the price demanded of you to be high, it may not, perhaps, at the same time, 
be higher than what you might have foolishly paid for a bad article ; and 




THE SPANISH FOWL. 



42 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

even should you have to pay an extra price, do so vrillingly, and, recollect- 
ing the old proverb, avoid being "penny wise and pound foolish." 

THE COLUMBIAN. 

A very noble fowl, presenting the appearance of a cross between Spanish 
and Malay, but possessing so much nobility and stateliness of aspect that I 
am loth to regard it otherwise than as a distinct and very primitive variety. 
The eggs are particularly large. My fowl, of this breed, lay eggs averaging 
in weight from 4i oz. to 4k oz., seldom, however, laying more frequently 
than every second day. These fowl are natives of Columbia, on the Spanish 
main in South America; and I think it not improbable that they are the 
origin of the breed now known as '* Spanish." 

V. THE POLISH FOWL. 

The Golden Spangled is one of no ordinary beauty ; it is well and very 
neatly made ; has a good body, and no very great offal. On the crest, im- 
mediately above the beak, are two small fleshy horns, resembling, to some 
extent, an abortive comb. Above this crest, and occupying the place of a 
comb, is a very large brown or yellow tuft, the feathers composing it dark- 
ening towards their extremities. Under the insertion of the lower mandi- 
ble, or tliat portion of the neck corresponding to the chin in man, is a full, 
oark-colored tuft, somewhat resembling a beard. The wattles are very 
small. In the golden variety, the hackles on the neck are of a brilliant 
orange, or golden yellow ; and the general ground-color of the body is of 
the same hue, but somewhat darker. The thighs are of a dark brown, or 
blackish shade, and the legs and feet are of a bluish gray. The full grown 
cock weighs about six pounds, and the hen five and a-half pounds ; the eggs 
njoderate in size, and very abundant. 

In the Silcer Spangled variety, the only perceptible difference is that the 
ground-color is a silvery white. The extremity, and a portion of the ex- 
treme margin of each feather, are black, presenting, when in a state of rest, 
the appearance of regular semicircular marks or spangles: and hence the 
name of " Spangled," the varieties being termed gold or silver, according to 
the prevailing color being bright yellow, or silvery white. In mere excel- 
lence of flesh, and as layers, they are inferior to the Dorking or Spanish va- 
rieties. 

Of the Polish fowl there are several subvarieties. The Polish fowl is, 
perhaps, the most unchanged from the primitive stock of any we are now 
acquainted with, being beyond doubt the immediate and almost unmixed 
decendant of the '• Gallus giganteus,"' or great wild cock of Sumatra. The 
varieties of Polish fowl are — 



VARIETIES OF THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 




GOLD SPANGLED POLISH HEN. 



I. — The Spangled Polish.— A. bird 
of extraordinary beauty, extremely 
scarce, and very difficult to be pro- 
cured. This fowl presents a sym- 
metrical and regular combination 
of the following colors, viz. : — A 
bright orange, a clear white, a bril- 
liant green, and a jetty black, soft- 
ened down with a rich and pure 
brown, every feather being tipped 
with white, so as to produce the 
effect whence has been derived the 
term of SPANGLED. The colorof the 
hen is a prevailing golden yellow, 
with white spangles, like the cock. 
In the cock the thighs are black, 
and are, likewise, though in a less 
degree, marked and spangled with 
black and golden yellow. The hinder end of the body is furnished with 
green and orange-brown hackles, and the tail is carried well up. The flesh 
of these birds is of good quality, and they are very prolific. They also fatten 
quickly, and have, by some, been compared to the Dorking for similarity of 
flesh and other excellences of quality. 

II. — The second variety of 
the Polish fowl is the well- 
known black fowl, with a white 
tuft on the crown. These birds 
were brought from St. Jago by 
the Spaniards, to whom they 
owe their first introduction into 
Europe. Their color is a shin- 
ing black, and both cock and 
hen have the white top-knot. 
The head is flat, surmounted by 
a fleshy protuberance, out of 
which spring the crown fea- 
thers constituting the tuft. 
These are remarkably good lay- 
ers, and will, if kept warm, lay 
nearly throughout the year; 
and it is this cause, probably, 
that has induced Mowbray and 
other writers to confound them 

WHITE-CRESTED BLACK POLANDS. 




44 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

with the Dutch breed, which, from a similar circumstance, have been styled 
" E very-day layers." 

III. — This variety of Polish fowl is the most pure and unmixed of the 
three : it is, indeed, to all appearances, the uncontaminated descendant of the 
great fowl of St. Jago. Its color is a brilliant white, with a jet black top- 
knot. This variety was described by Aldrovande, and more recently by 
Dr. Bechstein. I have never myself seen a specimen of the breed, and 
have every reason to suppose it to be extinct, or very nearly so. Applica- 
tions have been made to several persons in both Germany and Poland, con- 
nected with the poultry fancy, for the purpose of procuring specimens of 
these birds at any cost, but the answers returned were, without one excep- 
tion, that they were no longer to be had. 

VI. SPANGLED VARIETIES. 

Gold and Silver Spangled Ham- Gold and Silver Dutch. 

burgs. Gold Bolton Bays. 

Dutch Penciled. Chittiprats. 

Dutch E very-day Layers. Creoles. 

Bolton Grays. Prince Albert Fowl. 

Much confusion seems to exist with regard to the spangled varieties of the 
Domestic Fov/1. The truth seems to be that the spangled fowl have been 
introduced without much attention being paid to their origin, and breeders 
have given them the names they thought most descriptive of their appear- 
ance and qualities — and thus run hastily through the description of the span- 
gled varieties, as given by Mr. Dixon and other writers ; — in the south of 
England a variety exists called the Coral, or Creoles, to which the Penciled 
Dutch of Dixon is the nearest approach. 

In the neighborhood of Keighley, in Yorkshire, and on the borders of Lan- 
cashire, the Bolton Greys are called " Chittiprats," or " Cheteprats," and 
prizes given to them as handsome, hardy, and excellent layers. In other 
parts of the kingdom they are known by the name of " Moonies." The so- 
called Prince Albert's breed are Bolton Greys, said to be crossed with game 
blood, and not easily to be distinguished from the Silver Spangled Ham- 
burgh. Bolton Bay is another provincial term for the Golden Hamburgh, as 
Bolton Grey is for the Silver. 

It is obvious, from these confused statements, that the various spangled 
races of Domestic Fowl have been so intermingled as to render it next to 
impossible to discriminate between them. 

Dutch Every-Day Layers. — Frequently confounded with the preced- 
ing. Instead of being destitute of comb, and carrying in its place a tuft of 
feathers on the crown, the cock of this interesting variety possesses what 
is called a rose comb; that is to say, a comb formed of a great number of 
folds of single comb, united into one broad, serrated, and fleshy mass. The 



VARIETIES OF THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 45 

color of the cock is, as usually occurs, more brilliant than that of the hen. 
His body is of a fine, reddish-brown hue, with neck hackles of a bright and 
rather deep golden yellow. These birds present, likewise, two distinctly- 
marked varieties, the difference, however, depending chiefly on color. When, 
as I have described, the color of the body is a golden yellow, streaked or 
spangled with blackish, or deep brown markings — an appearance caused by 
the dark color of the ends of the feathers — the bird is styled the " Golden 
Spangled ;" and when the ground color is white (the other circumstances of 
shading remaining the same) , the bird is styled the " Silver Spangled." 

These fowl have received the name of " Every-day " or " Everlasting 
Layers," from the circumstance of their unwillingness to hatch, in conse- 
quence of which they lay an egg nearly all the year through, and, if proper- 
ly cared for, and warmly housed, even amid the frost and snow of the most 
inclement winter. Some say that the eggs of these fowls are not in gene- 
ral so large as those of ordinary poultry, nor equally substantial and nutri- 
tious. This might, indeed, considered theoretically, seem a very obvious 
consequence of so unsound a demand upon the bird's natural resource ; but 
I think that there is really no such remarkable difference. 

The Bolton Greys. — Tn general form they resemble the Dorking, except 
that they are longer in the body ; the color elegantly penciled in black. A 
variety called Bolton Bays, from that color, have precisely similar pencilings 
upon the bay color. Mowbray, quoting the Rev. Mr. Ashworth, vicar of 
Tamworth, says of the Bolton Greys : — " They are small in size, short in 
the leg, and plump in the make ; the color of the genuine kind invariably 
pure white in the whole lappel of the neck ; the body white, thickly spot- 
ted with bright black, sometimfes running into grizzle, with one or more 
black bars at the extremity of the tail. They are chiefly esteemed as very 
constant layers, though their color would also mark them for good table 
fowl." Mowbray also calls them Corals — why, does not appear, unless 
they are synonymous with the Creole of other parts of the country. In 
Yorkshire, the same birds are called Chittiprats. 

The Barbary Fowl. — Now naturalized in Spain ; the specimen that I 
describe was brought recently from that country. It is very tall, remarka- 
bly heavy, with not much offal, and a firm, muscular quality of flesh. The 
comb presents a most singular appearance — viz., that of two large and fleshy 
combs growing up together, and enclosing a smaller and apparently abortive 
comb between their folds. The color is a prevailing black, with some green 
and brown markings upon the wings ; it is booted and feathered upon the 
legs, like the Bantam, and thus clothed to the very toes; the cheek or ear- 
piece is white, like the Spanish breed. It is a bird of vast body, and al- 
most gigantic proportions, displaying great boldness of carriage and confi- 
dence of demeanor. 



46 



DOMESTIC FOWL. 



VII. THE DORKING FOWL. 

The Dorking would appear to owe its name to its having been chiefly 
bred in a town of Surry, of the same appellation. That the peculiarity of 
five toes, or, in other words, of two hind toes instead of one, is to be regard- 
ed as a distinctive character of the breed, is by some writers qiiesticued, and 
by others wholly denied. For my part, I should say, that whenever this 
characteristic is absent, a cross has been at work. 




WHITE DORKINGS. 



I do not, however, mean to assert that this possession of two hind toes 
instead of one, has never occurred in any other family of fowl except those 
brsd at Dorking, in Surry, for Aristotle has mentioned the existence of a si- 
milar peculiarity among certain fowl in Greece, and both Columella and 
Pliny assert the existence of such in their time in Italy, so also does Aldro- 
vand ; and these authors lived hundreds of years ago ; and, oddly enough, 
these breeds were remarkable, as are our own Dorking, for being good 
layers and good sitters. 

The color of the Dorking is usually pure white, or spotted or spangled with 
black ; these colors sometimes merge into a grey or grizzle. The hens weigh 
from seven to nine pounds ; stand low on their legs ; are round, plump, and 



VARIETIES OF THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 



41 



short in the body; wide on the breast, with abundance of white juicy- 
flesh. The hens are generally good layers, and their eggs, though smaller 
than the egg of the Spanish and Polish breeds, are of good size and well 




COLORED DORKINGS. 

flavored. These birds have been long prized, and it is now many years 
since their superiority over our ordinary domestic varieties was originally 
discovered and appreciated ; they were first noticed, and the variety adopt- 
ed, by the Cumberland breeders, v/hence they were soon brought into Lan- 
cashire and Westmoreland, and gradually spread overall England. Whether, 
however, from injudicious treatment, or imperfect feeding, or change of 
climate, or from whatever cause, it is certain that, when met with far from 
their native place, they appear greatly to have degenerated from their origi- 
nal superiority of character. In this, and all other varieties of fowl, fresh 
blood should be introduced from time to time, or the breed degenerates. 



VIII. THE SUSSEX. 

This is but an improved variety of Dorking, similar in shape and general 
character, usually of a brown color, but possessing the advantage of wanting 
the fifth toe : I say advantage, for the Dorking fowl frequently becomes 
diseased in the feet, the cocks especially, in consequence of breaking the 
supplementary toe in fighting. 



49 



DOMESTIC FOWL. 



IX. THE GAME FOWL. 



The Game fowl is one of the most gracefully-formed, and most beautifully- 
colored of our domestic breeds of poultry ; in its form and aspect, and in 
the extraordinary courage which characterizes its natural disposition, it 




exhibits all that either the naturalist or the sportsman recognizes as the beau 
ideal of high blood ; embodying, in short, all the most indubitable charac- 
teristics of gallinaceous aristocracy. 

We do not possess any very satisfactory record of the original country of 
the Game fowl ; but I am disposed to cede that honor to India, the natives 
of which country have alwaj^s been remarkable for their love of cock- 
fighting ; and we also know that there etill exists in India an original variety 
of game cock, very similar to our own, but inferior in point of size. As 
to the date or occasion of their first introduction into the British islands, we 
know nothing certain ; but it is probable that we owe it to the invasion of 
Julius Caesar, the Romans having been very fond of the sport of cock- 
fighting. 



VARIETIES OF THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 



4d 



The Game fowl is somewhat inferior in size to other breeds, and in his 
shape he approximates more closely to the elegance and lightness of form 
usually characteristic of a pure and uncontaminated race. Amongst poultry 
he is what the Arabian is amongst horses, the high-bred short-horn amongst 
cattle, and the fleet greyhound amongst the canine race. 

The flesh of the Game fowl is beautifully white, as well as tender and 
delicate. The hens are excellent layers, and although the eggs are some- 
what under the average size, they are not to be surpassed in excellence of 
flavor. Such being the character of this variety of fowl, it would doubtless 
be much more extensively cultivated than it is, were it not for the difficulty 
attending the rearing of the young, their pugnacity being such, that a brood 
is scarcely feathered before at least one-half is killed or blinded by fighting. 

The beauty of form and brilliancy of color displayed in the Game fowl, 
renders the breed very desirable ; they are of all colors, and each variety 
seems to have had its patrons, the rule being to mate the cock with hens 
of the same feather. The brood cock for purposes of battle, says this 
authority, " should have every feature of health ; such as a ruddy com- 
plexion, feathers close and short, flesh firm and compact, breast full, yet 
taper, and thin behind, full in the girth, well coupled, lofty and spiring, a 
good well-developed thigh, the beam of the leg strong, a large quick eye, 
beak strong and crooked." 

" In the choice of your 
hens," says Spetchly, " let 
them be rightly plumed to the 
cock ; nor let your choice fall 
upon those that are large, but 
rather suiier the cock to make 
up for the deficiency of the hen 
in size. In shape they should 
be similar to the cock, lofty 
necks, short and close feathered- 
A true blood hen is clean and 
sinewy in the leg, the body 
compact and well proportioned, 
a well-set thigh, with long, 
clean, and taper toes." Having 
selected a cock, place with him 
from four to six hens, bringing 
them together in November or 
December. If he is young, the 
hens may be full-grown — if a 
two year's old, then the hens 
may be young pullets, supposing 
3 




GAME-COCK. 



60 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

a strong and vigorous breed is desired. Have, however, a marked attention 
how he bears himself to all his hens, as it frequently happens that one or 
other of them falls under his displeasure, in which case she should be 
removed. 

In selecting eggs for setting avoid the earliest ones, as well as the last ; 
choose the best shaped eggs and mark thern to avoid mistakes, and place 
them under an old game hen if you can procure one, the old being excellent 
mothers. Their place for sitting should be private, and free from all annoy- 
ance or intrusion. 

When hatched, the young should be regularly fed, and often, after the first 
day or two, but in small quantities. Let their food be : — Macerated eggs, 
boiled hard ; crumbs of white bread ; lettuce leaves and meadow ants ; 
maggots from grains; steeped oats and small wheat ; curds, with new milk ;• 
bread, toasted, and steeped in chamber-lye. 

The variety of Game fowl are very numerous, and to the uninitiated 
their designations very unintelligible. For the purposes of combat, a sport 
now rarely followed by amateurs, the black-reds have been the favored 
variety. The recognized breeds are, according to Spetchly : — 

1. Black Reds. 8. Furnaces. 

2. Silver black breasted ducks. 9. Pole cats. 

3. Birchen ducks. 10. Cuckoos. 

4. Dark greys. 11. Gingers. 
6. Mealy greys. 12. Red duns. 

6. Blacks. 13. Duns. 

7. Spangles. 14. Smoky duns. 

" In all these," says Spetchly, " good bird^ may be found ; from them, 
however, have been raised crosses innumerable, and it is the aim of the fine 
breeders of the present day to have their birds as much as possible uniform 
in feather, blood, and constitution. Piles," he says, " have originated from 
a variety of crosses, which have constituted many of the shades of color ; 
they are not," he adds, '• of my selects." 

BuiFon, and other continental writers, have given this fowl the not unap- 
propriate title of the '• English Fowl ;" and truly it is in England that the 
very best specimens of the breed are to be met with. 

A correspondent well acquainted with rearing and breeding of game fowl, 
says, " Four or five hens are quite sufficient to keep company with one 
game cock ; perhaps, it is right to observe, that as hens lay at various seasons 
of the year, there never should be at any one particular season more than 
eleven or thirteen eggs collected for hatching. When this is done the 
chickens will prove to be more spirited and resolute. The month of March 
is the best month to bring forth game chickens. It is generally understood 
that when hatched in that month they prove to be the most hardy and con- 
stitutional birds. In putting game hens with a cock for breeding, great care 
should be taken to match the feather as near as possible. You may breed 



VARIETIES OF THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 61 

from a cock until he is four years old — that is, if not previously cut up by 
fighting a battle. One battle, or even two, if easily won, will not injure a 
cock for breeding ; some say it will, but I think not. Pullets should at all 
times be put to aged cocks, and vice versd^ stags to aged hens. The greatest 
of care should be taken in gathering the eggs, that those of each hen be 
kept separate, and hatched accordingly. 

We should state, in conclusion, that however interesting for their beauty 
and high courage, game fowl v/ill be very troublesome in a poultry yard of 
various breed, especially if any other cock is kept ; for although their smaller 
size might lead to the supposition that they would not be the aggressors, 
this would be a mistake ; their indomitable spirit leads them to quarrel 
with every other bird, and their activity and muscular strength render them 
dangerous to the largest adversary. 

X. PHEASANT FOWL. 

Much has been written upon this bird and its origin, and a candid con- 
sideration of the entire subject, leads to the conclusion that this is another 
case of intermingling of different varieties. Certain it is, that no established 
instance exists, where a cross between the pheasant of the woods and the 
domestic fowl have ever reached a second generation. 

Mr. Whittaker of Beckington, Somerset, describes a breed of what he 
calls Pheasant Malay, which he has kept for seven years. The cock he 
describes as a large sized bird, of a dark red color, with a small comb ; but 
the beauty of the breed is with the hens, which are of a pheasant color in 
all parts of the body, with a velvety black neck, the shape of both cock and 
hen being very good ; the neck in both, long and high crested ; the legs, and 
also the skin, is white. The hens have scarcely any comb; the cocks 'have 
one extending only a little way backwards. The chickens of this breed 
hatched in June, succeed better than when hatched earlier ; that they are 
small at first, and being scantily supplied with down, have a naked appear- 
ance, and are very susceptible of cold, circumstances which lead him to sus- 
pect them to be a recent introduction^ and from some warmer climate, 

XI. THE BANTAMS. 

The original of the Bantam is the Bankiva fowl, a native of Java, 
several specimens of which are kept by the Queen of England, These 
are very beautiful, of a perfectly white color, and exceedingly small size, 
and they exhibit some peculiar traits of habit and disposition that we cannot 
overlook. Amongst other strange propensities, the cocks are so fond of 
sucking the eggs laid by the hen, that they will often drive her from the 
nest in order to obtain them — nay, they have even been known to attack 
her, tear open the ovarium, and devour its shell-less contents. 

As might be inferred, when such a propensity to devour the eggs exists 



52 



DOMESTIC FOWL. 



.f.0\ _?^^^ 










WHITE BANTAMS. 

in the male bird, the female is a secret layer 



In this respect these fowl 
show their identity with the original bird of Java — the Bankiva cock. 
These birds are both good layers and good sitters. 

The fowl commonly known as the Bantam, is a small, elegantly-formed, 
and handsomely-tinted variety, evidently not remotely allied to the game 
breed. This bird is furnished with feathers to the toes. There is another 
variety ordinarily known as Sir John Sebright's fowl, which has its legs 





ORDINARY BANT.^M. 



SEBRIGin SANT.VAIS. 



VARIETIES OF THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 63 

perfectly naked to the toes, and approaches in form more nearly to the game 
breed. The high-bred cock of this breed should have a rose comb, full 
hackles, a well-feathered and well-carried tail, a stately, courageous de- 
meanor, and should not be quite a pound weight. The favorite color is a 
golden yellow, the feathers edged with black, the wings barred with purple, 
tail feathers and breast black. The Bantam possesses high courage, and 
will fight with great resolution. The attitude of the cock is singularly 
proud and haughty ; his head thrown back so as to nearly touch the upper 
feathers of his tail. Pure birds of this blood are very rare. 

The Creeper is also a very small variety of " Bantam,'^ with short legs. 

XII. THE TURKISH FOWL 

Is another variety of "Bantam," having a whitish body, with black belly 
and wings, the body streaked with gold and silver, and the legs bluish. The 
hen is, as usual, of a less showy plumage, her color being white, speckled 
here and there with black, the neck yellowish, and tail of one color. 

XIII. THE JUMPER. 

In addition to these diminutive races, there is another mentioned by Buffon, 
as being so short-legged that they are compelled to progress by jumps. 
These are, however, somewhat larger than the common Bantam, and ap- 
proach more nearly in size to the Dunghill. They are prolific, as well as 
excellent sitters, the hen having been known to hatch two broods in succes- 
sion, without even an intermediate day of rest. These dwarf fowl were 
described by Aldrovand more than two hundred years ago, and also, much 
farther back, by the celebrated Roman naturalist, Pliny, under the designa- 
tion of the Adrian breed. 

XIV. THE RUMPKIN OR TAIL-LESS FOWL. 

This bird is distinguished by the total absence of the caudal extremity. 
Some suppose it to be a distinct species descended from the wild breed of 
Ceylon. Among the wild birds the comb is not indented ; it is so with the 
tame ; and is, in the latter case, frequently double. BufFon supposed this 
fowl to be a native of America, but Dixon declares him to have been in error, 
having been misled by the circumstance of these birds being domesticated 
very commonly in Virginia. Others have supposed this fowl to be a native 
of Persia, and Latham even names it the " Persian Cock." It is, however, 
of very little practical importance whence the rumpkin originally came, the 
bird possessing neither good flesh nor affording good eggs. 

XV. THE SILKY FOWL. 

This fowl, remarkable for the silky texture of its plumage, is a native of 
China, but is likewise to be found in Japan : it is nearly always of a white 
or cream color. Some modern writers have sought to establish for the silky 



54 



DOMESTIC FOWL. 



fowl a claim to be considered a distinct species ; but their opinion is evidently 
erroneous. These fowl are good layers, but the eggs are small. For any 
practical purpose they are quite useless, and are also carefully to be excluded 
from the poultry yard, on account of the rapidity with which a cross from 
them lowers the value of our common poultry, darkening the color of the 
skin, and causing our birds to deteriorate both in appearance and utility. 

XVI. THE SIBERIAN OR RUSSIAN FOWL, 

Called by some the Russian, and said to be a native of that country, is 
distinguished by tufts of dark-colored feathers springing from each jaw, 
others, longer and fuller, springing from the lower mandible, in the form of 




RUSSIAN FOWLS. 

a beard. The color varies ; some are white, some blue or black, and others 
ar^ colored like the game fowl. The flesh of this variety is white and good. 
Thoy are, likewise, good layers, are hardy, and easily fed. This fowl is 
sometimes colored like the Spangled Hamburgh— some gold and some silver 
spangled. When thus colored, they are deemed valuable. 



XVII. THE FRIZZLED FOWL 

Is SO called from the crisped and frizzled appearance of its feathers, and 
not, as some have erroneously asserted, from a corruption of Friesland, at one 
time improperly conceived to be its native country. It is a native of Java, 
and other parts of Eastern Asia : it is smaller than our common fowl, is very 
susceptible of cold, and is, on that account, very difficult to rear. These 
fowl are particularly sensible of wet, the chickens especially ; they are very 



VARIETIES OF THE D0M:ESTIC FOWL. 55 

shy and wild, and, like the Rumpkin, are objects for the attention of the 
showman rather than of the poultry breeder. 

XVIII. THE DUTCH FOWL. 

Is of a white or grey color, streaked or spangled with black, and excel- 
lent fowl, whether as layers or for the table ; originally imported from Hol- 
land. This is called by Dixon the " Pencilled Dutch Fowl," from its mark- 
ing. It is not the same as the birds I have already described under the name 
of " Every-day layers." 

XIX. THE NEGRO FOWL 

Is a native of Africa, but by no means to be confounded with the " Bar- 
bary fowl." The Negro fowl is distinguished by having black comb, wattles, 
skin, bones, and feathers. The flesh is, however, white and tender. This 
bird is another good specimen for the curious, but anything but a desirable 
inmate of the poultry-yard, as, besides being ugly and unprofitable, he has 
the objectionable quality of speedily causing deterioration among pouhry. 

XX. THE BARN-DOOR FOWL. 

I describe these fowl separately ; for, although the designation of " Barn- 
door fowl" may be applicable also to the Dunghill, I regard the former ap- 
pellation as possessing a far more extended signification. 

The Barn-door fowl embrace, of course, several sub-varieties. Few of our 
high-priced breeds, except in some places the Dorking and the Polish, have, 
as yet, become so common as to be included in the list ; but crosses of the 
common Dunghill bird with the Malay, Dorking, Polish, or Spanish, are very 
frequently to be met with. r i • 

Dr. Bechstein enumerates eight distinct varieties of barn-door fowl, viz :— 



6. The ermine-like fowl. 

7. The widow ; wuth tear-like spot3 
on a dark ground. 

8. The fire and stone-colored fowl. 



J. The fowl with the small comb. 

2. The crowned fowl. 

3. The silver-colored fowl. 

4. The slate-blue fowl. 
6. The chamois-colored fowl. 
The distinction will be perceived to consist almost solely in color ; but the 

Doctor has omitted another and very ordinary inmate of the farm-yard— viz., 
the booted fowl, represented by the bantam. It will then be seen that the 
Barn-door fowl, whatever marks of being an original variety it may have 
formerly exhibited, is now likely soon to lose all such marks from the effect 
of crossing. 

XXI. THE DUNGHILL FOWL. 

The Dunghill fowl occupies in the poultry-yard precisely the position of 
the cur dog in the kennel, being, in fact, the produce of a miscellaneous in- 
teimixture of most of the ordinary domestic varieties, and constantly differ- 
ing in its appearance with the accidents which may have influenced its 
parentage. 



DO i>OM STIC FOWL, 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE TURKEY. 
THE WILD ORIGINAL. 

LiNN^us and others have given the turkey the erroneous appellation of 
"Maleagris gallipavo," under the strange impression that this bird and the 
Maleagris of the ancients are identical — a very strange error indeed, inas- 
much as the descriptions of the jNIaleagris, given by Athenaeus and other 
classic writers, refer with the most minute accuracy, to the Guinea fowl ; 
and in scarcely any single particular can be traced a resemblance to the tur- 
key. The mistake was first observed and pointed out by the French 
academicians, and is now universally admitted. 

Various opinions have been promulgated relative to the original country of 
the turkey, but it is now ascertained beyond a doubt to have been America; 
and it is in that country alone that the true original of our domestic turkey is 
yet to be met with in all its primitive wildness, clothed in its natural plum- 
age, genuinely wild in all its habits, the unreclaimed denizen of the wilder- 
ness. As to the medium through which this bird was first introduced into 
Europe much doubt still exists, and we have, indeed, no authentic proof as 
to either the period of time, or by what agency that event took place ; it is, 
however, not unreasonable to suppose that the Spaniards, Jifter their discovery 
of Mexico, where the turkey is known to be indigenous, brought specimens 
away with them on their return to their own country; and Oviedo, the ear- 
liest describer of tliis bird, speaks of it having been domesticated by the 
Christian inhabitants of New Spain and the Spanish Main. This proves that 
the turkey was domesticated by the Spaniards before the year 1526, for in 
that year was Oviedo's " Natural History of the Indies" published at Toledo. 
The discovery of INIexico took place in 151S: and when Hernandez shortly 
afterward described the natural productions of that country", he enumerated 
amongst them the turkey, distinguishing also the ivild from the tame. In 
1530, the turkey was introduced into England ; but it seems more probable 
that we owe its introduction to Cabot's having brought it direct from Amer- 
ica, than that we obtained it from Spain ; for if the latter were the case, I 
think it likely that some record of its transmission would remain. 

In 1541, we find turkeys enumerated amongst the delicacies of the table, 
and classed with the crane and swan; but the bird was too important an 
addition to our stock of domestic poultry to remain very long a rarity. At- 
tention was drawn towards it, — it was bred extensively ; and in 1573, wc 
find it mentioned in ''■ Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry," as forming 
the staple of the farmer s ordinary Christmas dinner. 

The origin of the popular name " Turkey" appears to be the confusion 



THE TURKEY. 6 7 

that at first so unaccountably subsisted relative to the identity of the bird 
with the Guinea fowl, which is really a native of that country, and which 
was introduced into England from the Levant, and at the time of the intro- 
duction of the turkey was still scarce. Some say it arose from the proud 
and Turkish strut of the cock. An old writer on agriculture, named Googe, 
(a.d. 1641,) asserts that the turkeys and Guinea fowl were unknown in Britain 
in 1530 ; but he.evidently suffered himself to be misled by a German author, 
Heresbach, whose treatise seems to have been the basis of Googe-s work. 
Hakluyt (a.d. 1582) mentions their having been introduced '• about fifty 
years back." In 1555, two turkeys and four turkey poults formed part of 
the inauguration dinner of the sergeants-at-law in London : they cost only 
four shillings each, while the swans were yated at ten shillings, and capons 
at half a crown : turkeys could not, therefore, have been very scarce at that 
time. — Dugdale, Orig. Jud. Thus, the turkey would appear to have 
been introduced into England about the year 1530, and we may conclude 
that it was brought into France about the same period ; for, in " Champier's 
Treatise on Diet," published in 1560, the turTcey is described, and the work 
is said to have been written upwards of thirty years prior to its publication. 
In this book, also, the bird is said to have been brought from the " newly 
discovered Indian islands ;" and my readers are well aware that the newly 
discovered continent of America was at first conjectured to be a portion of 
India, or an island belonging to it. In 1556, twelve turkeys formed the pre- 
sent offered to the King of France by the burgesses of Amiens. Heresbach 
states that they were introduced into Germany about 1530, and a sumptuary 
law made at Venice, in 1557, indicates the rank of those at whose tables 
they were permitted to be eaten. The turkey was then early appreciated, 
and his value duly estimated ; yet, strange to say, not a record remains to 
lead us to a knowledge of the person to whom the natives of Europe are in- 
debted for so very important a benefit. The turkey has long enjoyed the 
reputation it now holds, and has been deemed worthy of a place at the most 
luxurious festivals. 

No one who has seen only the domesticated inhabitant of the poultry-yard 
can form any idea of its wild original. The cock measures about three feet 
and a half, or nearly four feet, in length, and almost six in expanse of the 
wings. The skin of the head is of a bluish color, as is also the upper part 
of the neck, and is marked with numerous reddish, warty elevations, with a 
few black hairs scattered here and there. On the under part of the neck 
the skin hangs down loosely, and forms a sort of wattle ; and from the point 
where the bill commences and the forehead terminates, arises a fleshy pro- 
tuberance, M'ith a small tuft of hair at the extremity, which becomes greatly 
elongated when the bird is excited ; and at the lower part of the neck is a 
tuft of black hair, eight or nine inches in length. 

The feathers are, at the base, of a light dusky tinge, succeeded by a brilliant 
3* 



DOMESTIC FOWL. 



metallic band, which changes, according to the point whence the light falls 
upon it, to bronze, copper, violet, or purple : and the tip is formed by a nar- 
row, black, velvety band. This last marking is absent from the neck and 
breast. The color of the tail is brown, mottled with black, and crossed with 
numerous lines of the latter color. Near the tip is a broad black band, then 
a short mottled portion, and then a broad band of dingy yellow. The wings 
are white, banded closely with black, and shaded with brownish yellow, 
which deepens in tint towards the back. The head is very small in propor- 
tion to the size of the body ; the legs and feet are strongly made, and fur- 
nished with blunt spurs about an inch long, and of a dusky reddish color ; 
the bill is reddish, and horn-colored at the tip. 

The hen is less in size than the cock ; her legs are destitute of spurs : her 
neck and head are less naked, being furnished with short, dirty, gray feathers ; 
the feathers on the back of the neck have brownish tips, producing, on that 
part, a brown, longitudinal band. She also frequently, but not invariably, 
wants the tuft of feathers on the breast. Her prevailing color is a dusky 
grey, each feather having a metallic band, less brilliant than that of the 
cock ; then a blackish band and a greyish fringe. Her whole color is, as 
usual among birds, duller than that of the cock : the wing feathers display 
less white, and have no bands : the tail is similarly colored to that of the 
cock. When young, the sexes are so much alike, that it is not easy to discern 
the difference between them ; and the cock acquires his beauty only by 
degrees, his plumage not arriving at perfection until the fourth or fifth year. 

^^,,^.,^ The wild turkey was form- 

i ^ i^M^0^ erly found in Canada, and in 

^v ' i r^C^lf several districts of the United 

States, but has been gradually 
driven backwards as popula- 
tion increased. It is now 
chiefly to be found in the 
i\VM '^^''^^'^ ^ -^ wilder regions of Virginia, 

^\^%jW>M^^-l. ■ ^ Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, and 

Indiana. The wild turkey is^ 
to a certain extent, migratory 
in its habits ; and about the 
latter end of autumn large 
fl!ocks assemble, and gradually 
desert their barren wilds foi 
richer plains. The cocks as- 
sociate in parties by them- 
selves, and seek for food apart 
from the hens. The latter 
remain with the poults, which they take care to keep away from the cock, 
who is very apt to attack and destroy them. 




WILD TURKEY, 



THE TURKEY. 59 

Flocks leaving the same district all move forward in the same direction. 
They very seldom take wing unless to escape an enemy, or to cross a river, 
w'hich latter feat they do not perform without great deliberation, and a great 
deal of noisy '• gabbling." The old and strong birds will fly in safety across 
a river upwards of a mile in breadth ; the young and weakly often fall in, 
unequal to the effort ; but nevertheless usually manage to attain the shore 
by swimming. On reaching the opposite bank, the flock will generally strut 
about for a length of time, as if bewildered, and may, during this interval, be 
readily taken. On arriving at the desired district, they disperse in smaller 
flocks, composed indiscriminately of cocks, hens, and poults. Their food 
consists of beech-mast, maize, a fruit called the peccan nut, and acorns. 
They will also devour such beetles, grasshoppers, young frogs, small lizards, 
&c., as fall in their way. This is about the month of November, at which 
season they often incautiously venture too near farm-yards and barns, where 
great numbers are killed, and form a valuable article of traffic to the settler. 

Early in March the hens separate again from the herd, roost apart, and 
carefully shun the cock. They still, however, remain near him : and when 
a hen utters her call, every cock within hearing responds with his " gobble," 
" gobble,''" " gobble." This noisy w^ooing generally continues for about an 
hour before sunrise, after which the birds silently alight from their perches, 
and the cocks strut about with expanded tails, seeking to obtain the favor of 
their desired mates. They sometimes, while thus employed, encounter each 
other, in which case desperate conflicts take place, terminated only by the 
death or flight of the vanquished. 

After pairing, the birds remain together for the season, until laying begins, 
when the hen is again compelled to seclude herself, as the cock would other- 
wise destroy the eggs. About the middle of April the hen forms her nest 
of a few dry leaves, on the ground, in some sheltered spot, where it will be 
concealed from every hostile eye ; here she deposits her eggs, to the number 
of from ten to twenty. They resemble, in size and color, those of the 
domestic bird. Whenever she leaves the nest, she covers it up with leaves, 
so as to secure it from observation. She is a very close sitter, and will, also, 
when she has chosen a spot, seldom leave it on account of its being discovered 
by a human intruder. Should she find one of her eggs, however, sucked by 
a snake, or other enemy, she abandons the nest for ever. When the eggs 
are near hatching, the hen w-ill not forsake her nest while life remains. 

The young are very sensible to the effects of damp ; hence, after a rainy 
season, wild turkeys are always scarce. The flesh of the wild turkey is 
very superior to that of the domestic bird ; yet that of such of the latter as 
have been suffered to roam at large in the woods and plains is in no respect 
improved by this partially wild mode of life. The wild bird is frequently 
domesticated in America ; but I understand that these individuals are not 
very steady, and will, on the first opportunity, return to their native haunts. 



60 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

C. Lucien Bonaparte relates that a gentleman in West Chester County, New- 
York, once procured a young female wild turkey, in order to try the experi- 
ment of crossing the breed with the domestic bird ; but owing to some acci- 
dent it did not succeed, and in the ensuing spring the hen disappeared. She 
returned, however, in the autumn, followed by a large brood, and remained 
on the farm till the following spring, when she again disappeared, but re- 
turned in autumn with a second brood ; and this she continued to do for 
several years. 

When the eggs of the wild turkey are hatched under a tame hen, the 
poults preserve the wild manners of their race, and roost apart from the rest. 
These are often used as decoy birds, for the purpose of securing the wild 
ones. The wild turkey is found to thrive better, and fatten sooner, on a 
given quantity of food, than the tame ; and it is well known that the cross 
between the two is a greatly improved breed as to flesh and capability of 
taking fat. Some writers have greatly exaggerated the weight of the wild 
turkey; and some have even asserted that they have met with individuals 
of sixty pounds weight. M. Bonaparte states the average weight of the hen 
to be from eight to nine pounds, and that of the cock from fifteen to twenty. 
A knowledge of the natural habits of the bird is of the greatest importance 
in guiding us as to its treatment in a state of domestication ; and we, accord- 
ingly, should avoid condemning to the confinement of close, and often filthy 
hen-houses, a bird which, in a state of nature, always perches in the open 
air. Open sheds and high perches are what they require ; and their dislike 
to the mode of housing I speak of may be recognized in the eagerness with 
which they rush out the instant the door is opened in the morning. The 
domestic turkey has been known to go wild and remain so for two or more 
years ; and there is no doubt that it would be possible to naturalize them 
like the pheasant. 

Domestication has, in the case of the Turkey, as in that of most reclaimed 
anim.als, produced a diversity of color, which by cultivation, whether owang 
to fancy or some supposed inherent excellence residing in the various tints, 
has now furnished us with several so-called varieties or breeds, still however, 
with one exception (the Norfolk) , only differing in the prevailing hue of 
their plumage : thus we have the black, the white, the copper color, the 
brown, the bronze, and the dusky-grey. They are however, of course, all 
the descendants of their great American original, of which but one really 
exists, although F. Cuvier has described (1820) a second species found at 
Honduras. There is a question whether this actually be a second and dis- 
tinct species, however, or merely a variety of the wild bird, owing its diver- 
;sity of aspect to circumstances dependent on locality, and consequent change 
of habit, combined with difference of climate and other important causes, 
which we know, in the case of other animals, produce such remarkable 
effects. 



THE TURKEY. 



61 




THE DOMESTIC TUEKEY. 



As to the relative value of the ordinary varieties, it would be almost 
difficult to offer an opinion ; but those who suppose the white turkey to be 
'• the nnost robust and most easily fattened" are decidedly mistaken, both in 
theory, as far as analogy may guide us, and in practice, where the certain 
test of experience has shown to the contrar5^ The bronze and copper- 
colored varieties are generally undersized, and are amongst the most difficult 
of all to rear; but their flesh is certainly very delicate, and perhaps more so 
than that of other kinds — a circumstance, however, that may partly result 
from their far greater delicacy of constitution, and the consequent extra 
trouble devoted to their management. 



62 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

The brown and ashy-grey are not particularly remarkable ; but the black 
are decidedly superior in every respect, not only as regards greater hardiness, 
and a consequent greater facility of rearing, but as acquiring flesh more 
readily, and that being of the very best and primest quality. Those of this 
color appear to be less far removed than the others from the original wild 
stock. Fortunately, too, the black seems to be the favorite color of nature, 
and black turkeys are produced far more abundantly than those of any other 
hue. M. Parmentier was informed by a French lady, who had devoted 
much of her attention to rural affairs, that she had in her yard ten black 
turkey hens and a white cock, and yet, that not one of the chicks was while, 
or even light-colored. Turkeys will sometimes change their hue. Mow- 
bray states that " A turkey cock, which was black in the year 1821, became 
afterwards perfectly white, this extraordinary change taking place so gradu- 
ally, that in the middle of the moulting the bird was beautifully mottled, the 
feathers being black and white alternately." 

With respect to the best mode of keeping turkeys, I have merely to repeat 
what I have already remarked relative to a due attention to the habits of the 
original wild breed in its native state. Let them have a large, roomy, open 
shed, sufficiently protected, of course, from the weather, and, above all, from 
moisture. Let the perches be high — and here, again, you will do well not 
to omit the use of the hen ladder; for, although these birds can usually fly 
well, still, when fat, they become too heavy for their wings, and are apt to 
injure themselves in their descent from a lofty perch, especially when in 
confinement: w^hen at full liberty they can take better care of themselves. 
During warm weather they may be permitted to select their own roosting- 
places on the trees about a farm ; but should be well watched, lest they 
stray aw^ay ; and this indulgence should on no account be granted them if 
frost be anticipated, as their toes are tender and apt to become frost-bitten. 
Indeed summer is the only time of the year when this out- roosting may, 
with safety, be permitted. 

The turkey is a profitable bird, for it can almost wholly provide for itself 
about the roads and hedge-rows : snails, slugs, and worms are among the 
number of its dainties, and the nearest stream serves to slake its thirst. To 
the farmer, however, it is often a perfect nuisance, from its love of grain ; 
and should, therefore, be kept in the yard until all grain is too strong in the 
root to present any temptations. 

Notwithstanding the separation which, with the exception of certain sea- 
sons, subsists, in a wild state, between the cock and hen turkey, they have 
been brought to feed and live amicably together in a state of domesticity. 
The former, however, retains sufficient of his hereditary propensities to give 
an occasional sly blow to a chick, or forward poult, but that very seldom of 
a seriously malicious character. 

Mascall, in describing a turkey cock (such as the breeder should select) 



THE TURKEY, ^9 

says, that he should he a "a bird large, stout, proud, and majestical ; for when 
he walketh dejected, he is never good." 

M. Parmentier says that both cock and hen should have short legs, full 
shapes, and general vivacity and energy in all their movements ; likewise, 
that they should be both well shaped and in healthy condition. 

Mascall says, that the cock should not be " passing a yere or two yeres 
old : three yeres is the most, and too much." 

For my own part, I hold a turkey cock, at the age of three years, to be 
only in his prime, and to continue, in every respect, suitable for your purpose 
until five. The hen is at her prime younger, and, probably, at the second 
year is as good as ever she will be afterwards. 

It has been stated by some, and yet as positively denied by others, that 
one fecundation will render all the eggs of that laying fertile ; still, however, 
were it my own case, I should prefer making "assurance doubly sure," by 
allowing one cock to every dozen or fourteen hens. 

The approach of the laying season is easily known by the increased live- 
liness and proud strut of the hen ; and she likewise further expresses her 
feelings by a peculiar self-satisfied cry, that soon becomes familiar to the 
observer. This usually takes place in the month of March (nearly a month 
earlier than with the wild bird) . When the breeder perceives these symp- 
toms, he should provide a nest, and put an egg, or a bit of chalk formed like 
one, into it, to induce the hen to commence laying there. Partaking of the 
retiring propensities of the wild hen (although she has not equal reason to 
dread the destructive passions of the cock), the turkey is a secret layer, and 
does her best to elude the vigilance of her keeper and steal away to some 
secluded spot. The peculiar note of which I have spoken, betrays, however, 
the fact; and whoever has the care of the fowl, should trace her to her re- 
tirement, and bring her back to the nest prepared for her. 

The time when the hen turkey lays is usually morning. Some lay daily ; 
others only every second day. The number of eggs laid is commonly from 
fifteen to twenty ; but this varies with the age of the bird, a hen of mature 
age laying more and larger eggs than one of a year old. When the turkeys 
are to be let out in the morning, you may examine the hens, and keep in 
such as are about to lay. This precaution will, of course, prevent the loss 
of a single egg. When the hen is laying, the cock should be kept from her, 
as he would ill-treat her and break the eggs. The eggs should be taken 
avfay as soon as laid, lest they might be broken through the awkwardness 
of the hen, or sucked by vermin. They will keep till the hens are done 
laying, if put in a basket and hung up in a dry place. It is unnecessary to 
keep the eggs belonging to each in a separate place. The hen turkey is not 
troubled with any very exclusive feelings, or, rather, her disposition over- 
flows with an excess of maternal love : for she will rear a brood belonging 
to another quite as carefully as if they were her own. In the second laying, 



64 DOMESTIC FOWL, 

the eggs are fewer in number, seldom exceeding from ten to thirteen ; and 
on this occasion extra care is requisite. 

The sooner that one hen is turned away from her brood, and the brood 
mixed up with that of another, hatched about the same time, the better 
chance there is of rearing it, as the hen which is so turned away, will lay 
again in a fortnight or three weeks, and thus hatch a second time before the 
month of July is out. Even under these circumstances, the chance of rear- 
ing the young ones is very uncertain, as they are hardly strong enough to 
meet the cold nights in autumn, when they often become what is called club- 
footed., and die. I rather recommend letting the hen lay as many eggs as she 
will, and turning her off when she becomes broody. Hens thus treated will 
lay again in the month of August; so that, under all circumstances, they 
may be called profitable birds. 

The turkey hen is a most persevering sitter : and when her eggs are taken 
away, she M'ould sit upon stones, if she could not procure the eggs of another 
bird, and would perish before quitting the nest. Eggs should therefore, be 
left with her, not only to tranquillize her, but because sitting upon eggs fa- 
tigues her less than sitting upon an empty nest ; but these eggs must be mark- 
ed in order to distinguish them from those the poor bird continues to lay ; for 
any eggs that seem to her to be slow of hatching, will be abandoned, as she 
will quit the nest as soon as she perceives the chick ; consequently, as soon as 
the eggs you have placed under her are hatched, she will leave the nest, and 
the eggs of her own laying will be sacrificed. Remove, therefore, the for- 
mer ; and it is for this reason that I recommend them to be marked. Keep 
the nest clean while the turkey hen is sitting, as dirt will injure the eggs. 
No one should go near a hen when sitting, except her keeper ; and no one 
should turn the eggs, or meddle with them further than I have already indi- 
cated. The bird will turn her eggs with more judgment than you can do. 

On the thirty-first day of sitting, the chicks leave the eggs ; but as some 
quit their prison before others, they must be placed in a basket filled with 
feathers, and if the weather be cold, placed in some warm spot. When all 
are out, they may be given to the hen, for six or eight hours before feeding, 
Sometimes the chick will require assistance in leaving the egg; and, if so, 
the same caution must be observed that I have insisted upon in the case 
of the common fowl. Be very sparing of your aid. or you may do far more 
harm than good. 

Many writers recommend a vast deal of quackery in the treatment of the 
young chicks. Some go the length of ordering them wine, pepper, bathing 
in cold water ! &c. It is far better to let them alone. For a few hours after 
hatching, the chicks require no food at all ; and then, instead of cramming 
them — a process in wiiich you are likely to break the tender beak of the 
little chick — chop up a few hard eggs with boiled nettles, parsley, and a little 
bread or curd ; make this into a paste, and present it to the birds in the palm 
of your hand, or place it before them on a stone, taking care that the hen does 



THE TURKEY. 65 

not rob them. In supplying them with water, be careful to put it in such 
ver}' shallow vessels that they cannot wet themselves ; for the least moisture 
appears fatal to them. As the turkey chick does not seek its food immedi- 
ately on leaving the egg, as the hen seems incapable of instructing her little 
offspring how to do so, it is a practice with some to put a few common hen's 
eggs among the turkey's (which must be done about nine or ten days after 
sitting) , that these, coming out with the little turkeys, may, by force of ex- 
ample, teach them to provide for themselves. 

Unless in very warm weather the hen and chicks should be housed for a 
month. If they appear drooping, put powdered caraway seed, and a little 
Cayenne pepper into the food. If you mix the food with milk, let it be 
previously boiled. Unboiled milk will purge the chicks ; but, for my own 
part, I prefer pure water. 

At the age of about two months occurs the most critical period in the life 
of a turkey, called "shooting the red ;" or the time when the head and neck 
acquire the reddish color of the adult. This crisis once past, the birds may 
be regarded as past danger, and exchange the name of chicks for that of 
turkey poults. The only treatment necessary when the bird is shooting the 
red is to furnish nutritive food, with the addition of a small pinch of Cayenne 
pepper. Bruised hempseed is also found serviceable. 

I know no birds better calculated to be profitable to the breeder, than tur- 
keys. They will almost wholly provide themselves with food ; and it is 
only the young chicks that require nourishment at our hands ; and how in- 
expensive, also, is this nourishment ! With care you may rear two broods 
in a year, and have from eight to fifteen survivors in each. Take the aver- 
age at ten, and, suppose you h^ve three hens, you may bring up thirty chicks. 
Your hens will cost you nothing for keep; and you must admit that your 
grofit is handsome. This is, however, far below the mark. There is no- 
thing to prevent an individual having more hens, rearing larger broods. 

Cobbett, a shrewd and accurate observer, thus writes — " As to the feeding 
of them when young, many nice things are recommended — hard eggs, 
chopped fine, with crumbs of bread, and a great many other things ; but that 
which I have seen used, and always with success, and for all sorts of young 
poultry, is milk turned into curds. This is the food for young poultry of all 
sorts. Some should be m.ade fresh every day ; and if this be done, and the 
turkeys be kept warm, not one out of a score will die. When the}^ get to 
be strong they may have meal and grain ; but still, they always love the 
curds. When they get their head feathers, they are hardy enough ; and 
what they then want is room to prowl about. It is best to breed them un- 
der a common hen, because she does not ramble like a hen turkey ; and it is 
a very curious thing that the turkeys bred up by a hen of the common fowl, 
do not themselves ramble much when they get old. 

" The hen should be fed exceedingly well, too, while she is sitting, and 



06 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

after she has hatched ; for no man ever saw healthy chickens with a poor 
hen. This is a matter much too little thought of in the rearing of poultry ; 
but it is a matter of the greatest consequence. Never let a poor hen sit ; 
feed the hen while she is sitting, and feed her most abundantly while she 
has young ones, for then her labor is very great. She is making exertions 
of some sort or other during the v. hole twenty-four hours ; she has no rest ; 
is constantly doing something, in order to provide food or safety for her young 
ones. As to fattening turkeys, the best way is never to let them be poor. 
Cramming is a nasty thing, and quite unnecessary. Meal mixed with skim- 
milk, given to them fresh, will make them fat in a short time, either in a 
coop, in a house, ot running about. Boiled carrots and Swedish turnips will 
help, and it is a change of sweet food." 

As observed already, once the turkey chicks shoot the red (which takes 
place at or about eight weeks old) , they may be considered out of danger ; 
hence, many persons consider it more profitable to buy lean young poults, 
after they have got the red, and then fatten them for market, to breeding 
them. If the mortality among the chicks were greater, and were not so 
easily to be avoided by a very little care, this might be the preferable mode 
of going about the matter; but as it is, there can be no doubt of the greater 
advantage to be derived from rearing your own chicks. 

In feeding the poults, after the second month, it will suffice to give them 
such boiled common plants and herbs as are of a nutritive character — nettles, 
wild succory, milfoil, turnip tops, cabbage sprouts, or the outside leaves of 
greens well boiled down — with these, potato skins and an odd potato or two 
itself may be given, and acorns, if they can be had without expense. The 
meal of buckwheat, barley, beans, oats, according to whichever is most 
plenty with you, will, when incorporated as I have described with potatoes, 
fatten the poults with great rapidity. But, you may also use the meal of 
Indian corn with the greatest advantage, though it requires treble the boiling 
of oatmeal. If you desire to meet the market hastily, and with profit, you 
will be compelled to resort to more expensive feeding than otherwise, but 
you will be repaid by the result. When the poults are about five months 
old, or earlier, if it be late in the season and cold weather seems at hand, 
gi\e them boiled potatoes mashed with meal, and then chopped small, as I 
have described. Let this be given fresh, and the vessel in which they are 
fed well washed daily, as otherwise it will speedily contract a sour smell 
and become repulsive to the birds, for turkeys are both cleanly and nice in 
their appetite. After having persevered in this feeding, morning and evening, 
for about a month, during which time the exercise of the poults should be 
greatly curtailed, and they should likewise be kept much of their time 
(especially after meals) in the dark, they will be found fit for use, and, if of 
a good kind, at least eighteen pounds weight. 

As damp or cold is fatal to turkey poults, so is intense sunshine. Poults 



THE TURKEY. 07 

should not be suffered to stray too far; for, independently of the risk they 
incur, in case of sudden shower, it must be remembered that they are as yet 
incapable of encountering any great fatigue, and that their condition will be 
anything but benefited thereby. Mr. Dixon recommends a mode of diet 
that I have never seen tried : — " No food makes their flesh whiter and more 
delicate than kitchen stuff, or the dregs of miClled tallow, more or less of 
which must be boiled according to the number that is to be fed ; and being 
diluted in a boiling kettle, plants (and especially nettles chopped up) and pot- 
herbs are mixed with it. The whole being well boiled, barley-meal or corn 
is added to form a kind of paste, which may be given twice a day at least — 
in the morning and at one o'clock — when it is wished to render them fat. 
But as the dregs of melted tallow are not everywhere to be procured, the 
dregs or refuse of the oil of nuts, linseed, or sweet almonds, may be substi- 
tuted, the greatest care being taken not to fatten them wholly with such 
oily substances, for their flesh would partake of the flavor and be injured." 

From what we know of the value of oil-cake in the fattening of our cat- 
tle, I have no doubt of its efficacy in fattening turkeys, but it certainly ren- 
ders the flesh rank and oily. In reckoning the advantages with the expense 
attendant on the rearing of these birds^ until you want to fatten them for 
sale or your own consumption, you need be at no pains relative to their food, 
as they are quite able to provide for themselves, being in this respect su- 
perior to any other of our domestic fowl. In thus readily providing for 
themselves, they are also greatly assisted by the easy character of their ap- 
petite — grass, herbs, corn, berries, fruit, insects, and reptiles; in short, hardly 
anything coming amiss to them. 

Audubon says, that in their 'native forests "they cannot be said to con- 
fine themselves to any particular kind of food, although they seem to prefer 
the peccan nut and winter grape to any other ; and where these foods 
abound, are found in the greatest numbers. They eat grass and herbs of 
various kinds — corn, berries, and fruits of all descriptions. I have even 
found beetles, tadpoles, and small lizards in their crops." — Ornith. Biog. 1. ii, 
A favorite repast of this bird in its native forests is said also to be the seed 
of a kind of nettle, and at another season a small red acorn, on which latter 
food they soon become so fat that they cannot fly, and are easily run down 
by dogs. 

They are dull and stupid at getting ihe corn out of the ear, unless very 
ripe, and will walk through a field of peas or beans without opening a 
single shell, even if they are ripe. 

There are many sorts of food which, though nutritious and highly salu- 
tary as concerns other fowl, are little short of downright poison to turkeys. 
Amongst others, I may enumerate vetches or tares, marrowfat peas, and 
most sorts of pulse. 

The weight of turkeys has been much exaggerated by careless, ignorant, 



68 



DOMESTIC FOWL. 



or, perhaps, credulous writers; and 60 lbs. is, by some, mentioned as a 
common weight. On the contrary, 20 lbs. is a fair weight for any fat year- 
ling bird (and a very great weight for a bird of six months old) ; 30 lbs. is 
a fine turkey of any age ; and few ever exceed 40 lbs. The greatest weight 
that these have been known to attain, recorded by such authority as we can 
rely upon, is 56 lbs. I have never seen a turkey of 60 lbs. weight: nor do 
I know any one that has. The hen takes fat more readily than the cock, 
and is, in proportion to her size, a tenderer and better dish. 



THE GUINEA HEN, OR PINTADO. 

The original country of the Guinea fowl is, as its name implies, Africa ; 
but it is likewise common in America, where it is supposed to be indigenous, 
as well as the turkey. 

The Guinea fowl is slightly 
larger than the ordinary barn- 
door fowl, but is inferior in size 
to the larger foreign breeds, as 
the Malay and Spanish ; in both 
aspect and character it appears 
to occupy a position between 
the pheasant and the turkey. 
Although long familiarized, the 
Guinea fowl has never been 
fully domesticated, still retain- 
ing much of the restlessness and 
shyness of its primitive feral 
habits. It is very courageous, 
and will not only frequently at- 
THE GUINEA FOWL. tack the turkey, but even prove 

victorious in the encounter. 
The cock and hen are so nearly alike, that it is not easy to distinguish 
them ; there is sometimes a difference of hue in certain parts ; but this dif- 
ference only occurs occasionally, and indeed, it is on gait, voice, and de- 
meanor, that we must chiefly depend. It must be remarked that they pair ; 
therefore a second hen will be neglected and useless except for eggs. 

As a source of profit I cannot recommend these fowl : the eggs are very 
small, and the flesh not being likely to please every palate. Still, however, 
as the Guinea fowl require but little trouble or attention, and their eggs, 
though of small size, are well flavored and numerous, they are generally 
kept wherever there is accommodation for them. The chief objection to 
them is their cry, or scream ; and even this, again, has its advantages, in- 
variably predicting a change of weather : they can hardly, however, be 
kept with other poultry, on account of their pugnacity. 




PEA FOWL. 



69 



The Guinea fowl dislikes confinement, and will not thrive unless it has 
free liberty ; where such, therefore, cannot be afforded, it is useless to attempt 
keeping it. 

These fowl are prolific ; the hen commences to lay in May, and lays 
throughout the entire summer. The period of incubation is twenty-eight 
days ; but it is more advisable to keep the Guinea hen entirely for laying, 
and if you desire to hatch any of the eggs, to do so under the hen of the 
common fovv'l. You must keep the male bird away, or he will destroy the 
eggs. 

The chicks, while young, require careful management, and must be con- 
stantly fed ; in a short time they become perfectly hardy. At nine months 
they are fit for the table. 

PEA-FOWL. 




A Peacock in full feather, parading on a green lawn, or from the extremity 
of a terrace-wall, displaying the full length of his gorgeous tail, is one of 
the most beautiful of living additions to garden landscape. But of fruit he 
will prove a devourer, not to be guarded against, and both he and his mate 
are not unfrequently murderous assassins of the young of other fowl. The 



70 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

cock does not attain the full splendor of his plumage until he is three years 
old, and the hen does not lay until the same age. She lays from five to 
seven eggs, and sits twenty-nine days. If the first batch of eggs be taken 
away, she will lay a second, so that by having a hen turkey foster nur e 
you may manage to have two broods in one summer. The peahen generally 
chooses a very retired spot, quite out of the way of the peacock, who is 
often a cruel unnatural father. The young must be hatched like Guinea 
fowl and young turkeys : unless amply and regularly fed they are apt to 
wander. When fat and hung long enough, they make a delicious and splen- 
did roast. They should be larded with slices of fat bacon, the head and 
neck with the fealhers on, carefully wrapped in paper, and tucked under the 
wing au-ay from the fire, and when ready set up in purple glory, to match 
the tail adorned with feathers, neatly stuck in at the last moment. If 
you wish pea-fowl to agree with other poultry, they must be reared with 
them. 



CHAPTER IX. 

WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. 
(anatiD-e). 

A FAMILY of web-footed birds whose habits are, generally speaking, 
aquatic, though some of them are more so than others. This family of the 
Palmipedes of Cuvier have a large and broad bill, the edges of which are 
beset with laminm placed transversely. They are divided into Swans, 
Geese, and Ducks. The limits of each, however, are not very well defined. 

THE SWAN. 

Swans (Cygnus) are found on the rivers and small pools of fresh water, 
rather than on the sea or the larger lakes, and, when they do appear on 
these, they are always found near the shores, and never on the expanse of 
the broad waters. The chief reason of this is, that they are vegetable 
feeder.s. and although their long necks enable them to reach the bottom at 
considerable depths, they never dive, and they rarely feed upon the land, or 
in any other mode than by floating on the surface of the water. They are 
among the most ornamental of all the water birds, on account of their great 
size, the gracefulness of their forms and motions, and the snowy whiteness 
of the plumage of those species with which we are most familiar. Swans 
have, from the remotest antiquity, attracted the attention of poets and other 
describers, and the ancient fable of their acquiring a musical song when 
they are dying, instead of the husky voice which they have when alive, is 
still repeated, though wholly destitute of foundation. 



WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. 7l 

In £ome of the species, the swans approach the geese in many of their 
characters, while the typical ones differ considerably. 

The Mute or Tame Swan (Cygnus olor) is '* the Swan," by way of emi- 
nence. The bill of the mute swan is of a red or salmon color, with the 
margins and the basal cere, which swells into a tubercle of considerable 
size, black ; the whole plumage of the mature bird, when on the water in 
a pure atmosphere, is beautifully white ; and few of the living productions 
of nature are more beautiful than swans, especially when they are upon 
small expanses of clear water. Though a majestic creature in its motion 
upon the water, the appearance of the swan harmonizes best with that 
which is clear and tranquil, and grasses and green meadows add greatly to 
the effect. 

In a state of nature this species is migratory, where the seasons run into 
extremes ; when wild they are compelled to move southward when the 
weather is severe ; but where the waters are open they continue on the 
same grounds for the whole year round, and where they are placed upon 
ornamental waters in pleasure-grounds, or even in the close vicinity of cities, 
they show no very strong disposition to shift to more sequestered haunts, at 
any season of the year. In places that are much frequented they soon be- 
come very familiar ; indeed they are far from being timid birds under any 
circumstances. They appear to be quite confident in the power which na- 
ture has given them ; and, as they have little to fear from enemies, they are 
not much given to be pugnacious, at least in ordinary times of the year. 
When, however, they have nests, they not only defend them with great 
bravery, but attack in the most resolute manner, any animal that approaches, 
not excepting man himself. The female is a close sitter during her incuba- 
tion, which is forty days ; and while the female sits, the male is very 
assiduous in watching for the safety of the family. He is ready to resist. 
and by the most vigorous means to repel, every intruder, not excepting his 
own species, who cannot come within a short distance of the nest without 
being attacked. Severe contests often take place between the males upon 
these occasions, more especially if, as is sometimes the case, there is an odd 
or unpaired male upon the same water. This odd one is not the assailant ; 
for, as he is not in the guardianship of a female and nest, he does not appear 
to have the same excitement as those which have this trust committed to 
them ; but if he is attacked, he is bold enough in self-defense ; and it has 
been stated that if he should succeed in killing or beating off the legitimate 
possessor of the ground, even after the incubation is considerably advanced, 
he takes the place and discharges the duties of watchman and protector, 
with the same vigilant assiduity as the one which he has vanquished. 

The Swan forms one of the finest ornaments of a sufficiently extensive 
sheet of water, and a pair will keep down weeds much more cheaply and 
effectually than any mechanical appliance. An island will be found the best 




DOMESTIC SWAN. 



breeding place. They require feeding during winter, at least ; but, it is 
better to feed them constantly. A fat young cygnet affords a delicious dish. 
Swans, as well as all kinds of wild or semi- wild water fowl, must be pin- 
ioned, or they will be apt to depart without leave at the improving period 
of the year. To effect this operation, find the joint of the bastard wing, 
which will include about five flight feathers, introduce a sharp knife between 
the joints, cut steadily and boldly : no injur)^ will ensue. The Swan begins 
to lay at three years old. 

The nest of the Swan in a domestic state is large and wide ; the eggs 
are of a white color, and vary from six to eight in number. The cygnets 
are grey, and do not acquire their full plumage till the second year, and till 
then they usually keep in company with each other, which they also do 
with the old birds, until the time of pairing again comes on. The cygnets, 
while they are in their grey plumage, have very little of the majestic appear- 
ance of the adult swans. As articles of food, they are, however, the only 
ones that are held in much estimation, and there is probably more of the 
want of rarity than that of nature in them. Taken from the water in their 
natural condition, they are comparatively of little value : but, when they 
are artificially fattened, they fetch a high price in the market. When tame, 
swans are kept with a view to profit as well as ornament ; their down and 
the quills of their wings are pulled twice in the year. This is a very cruel 



WEB-FOOTED BIRDS, i3 

operation ; but then, the feathers pulled from the live bird are better than if 
they were taken from it when dead ; and, if the operation is performed near 
the time of the moult, and the birds are well fed, it is not so hurtlul to ihem 
as might at iirst be supposed. 

The Black Swan (C. niger,) which is a native of Australia, but has been 
domesticated. It is much more of a tyrant on the waters than the White 
Swan, and will allow no other swimming bird to live in its vicinity. The 
whole plumage is black, with the exception of the first six quills, which are 
white ; the bill, and a naked space round the eye, are red ; the length is 
about four feet and a half, and the wings rather shorter in proportion than 
the White Swan, but they are broad and strong. The plan and structure of 
the nest are about the same as those of the White Swan, and there does not 
appear to be much difference either in the food or the general habits. The 
male is particularly watchful of the female when sitting, and of both female 
and brood when they are on the water ; he not only drives off all other birds, 
but if any animal, or even a human being approaches, he lands and marches 
forth to give him battle at a distance from the family ; his wings are raised 
ready for the stroke, his feathers ruffled, and he puts on altogether rather a 
formidable appearance. The young are produced about the same season as 
those of the White Swan, and the number in a brood appear also to be the 
same. They are of a blackish ashen grey, which continues the whole of 
the first year. As a curiosity the Black Swan is very well, the more espe- 
cially that it was for such a length of time implicitly looked upon as the 
'mpossible bird that was nowhere to be met with ; but it has none of the 
oeauty and grace of the White Swan, which must continue to be the favor- 
ite as an ornamental bird. 

THE GOOSE (aNSER) . 

Geese are very numerous, as well in species as in varieties. They are 
more abundant in the polar countries than in the southern regions ; and, with 
few exceptions, are completely web-footed, and can swim. Swimming is 
not, however, their proper and peculiar, or, in general, even their chief 
motion. If the structure of a goose, and the way in which the legs support 
the body, are compared with those of a duck, we shall perceive a very re- 
markable difference in the purposes for which they are best adapted. The 
bodies of ducks are "boat-built," and evidently formed for getting through 
the water rapidly at a small expense of effort ; their legs are placed far 
backward, so as to strike against the water which follows in their wake ; 
while the Goose is properly a walker, although the powder of swimming is 
added, and in some of the species the two powers are nearly equal, while 
there may be some in which the swimming predominates. 

Geese are also much more exclusively vegetable feeders than the rest of 
4 



74 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

the AnatidcE ; at least, with the exception of the swans, which are also much 
more aquatic in their feeding than the geese, for which habit they are well 
adapted by the greater length of their necks. Geese never dive, nor do they, 
in many instances, feed below the surface of the water, though they often 
feed, while swimming, on the seeds and succulent leaves of floating aquatic 
plants. 

The generic characters are : the bill shorter than the head, higher than 
wide at the base, diminishing towards the tip, and thus having a slightly 
conical form. The teeth, in the margins and toward the tip of the bill, are 
conical, and the point of the upper mandible is generally furnished with a 
nail of harder consistence than the rest, and sometimes differently colored. 
They are, generally speaking, polygamous : but there is no great external 
difference between the sexes. The old males are, indeed, rather larger than 
the females ; but, before they reach maturity the t\\ o sexes are very much 
alike both in size and color. 

The natural habitats of the geese are damp meadows, and tufted marshes 
which abound with plants, a species of pasture which naturally points out 
why geese in a state of nature should be very migratory birds. 

The goose is a bird of no mean consequence in history. The Roman 
geese gave warning of the approach of the foe, and saved the Capitol ; and it 
is from this circumstance, according to some, that this bird has since been a 
favorite Christmas dish. On account of this valuable service rendered by 
the goose to the Roman state, it had the honor of being eaten with great 
pomp at important public festivals ; amongst which were the Julian games. 
The Romans introduced the goose into Britain ; Yule, the Scotch term for 
Christmas, is derived from Julius, and hence the goose is a Christmas dish. 
1 confess I think this a little far-fetched, and suspect the true reason to be, 
that at that period of the year the goose is in the best condition, and fittest 
for the table. 

The common Wild, or Grey-lag Goose (A. palustris) . — This is gene- 
rally understood to be the parent stock of all the domest c species of Europe. 

The Gray-lag is about thirty-five inches in length, the female being some- 
what smaller. Its beak is of a pale flesh color, with the nail, or horny tip, 
white ; the iris is brown ; the head and neck of an ashy gray ; the inner 
part of the wings pale leaden gray ; belly and under surface of neck white ; 
legs of a very pale flesh color. The chief characteristics of the Grey-lag 
are the light ashy-blue color of the outer portion of the wing, and the con- 
spicuous white extremity of the beak. The Gray-lag wild goose is now 
rarely to be met with. 

The White-fronted Goose. — The length is about two feet four inches, 
the extent of the wings about four feet and a half, and the weight about five 
pounds. The bill is thick at the base, of a yellowish red color, with the 
nail white. A white patch is extended over the forehead from the base of 



WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. 



75 



the bill and corners of the mouth. The rest of the head, neck, and the 
upper parts of the phunage in some specimens are dark brown, and each 
feather is margined more or less with that color; the primary and secondary- 
quill feathers are of the same, but much darker, and the wing-coverts are 
tinged with ash. The breast and belly are dirty white, barred with irregu- 
lar patches of very dark brown, and tipped with lighter shades of the 
same color. The tail is horny ash-colored brown, and surrounded with white 
at the base ; the legs yellow- 

Of these four varieties, the Gray-lag and the White-fronted are obviously 
the originals of our domestic geese. The legs of many of our domestic 
geese are orange-colored, like those of the White-fronted. The legs of the 
wild Gray -lag goose are of a pale flesh color. 

The Canada or American wild Goose.— In the slenderness of its 
make, and the form of its neck, this bird somewhat approaches the swan. 
The black and wing coverts are dull brown, each feather having a whitish 
tip; side pale ashy brown; ^ ^' l>. 

upper part of head and neck 
black, with a broad patch of 
white spreading from the 
throat over the lower part of 
cheeks on each side ; the bill 
is black ; legs and feet gray- 
ish black. This bird is easily 
naturalized amongst us, and 
affords good flesh for the ta- 
ble ; in captivity it readily 
pairs with the common gray 
goose, and the young are su- 
perior to either parent in point 
of size. The principal objec- 
tion to the breeding of the 
Canada goose as a member of 
our poultry establishment, is 
its not being prolific, and hence not affording promise of being profitable. 




CANADA OR AMERICAN WILD GOOSE. 



DOMESTIC GEESE, AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 

Amongst the varieties of our common domestic goose we must first describe 
one which, though of comparatively recent introduction, and as yet not gen- 
erally to be met with as an ordinary inhabitant of farm-yards, bids fair, 
from its unusual size, and capacity of carrying flesh, shortly to supersede every 
other in the estimation of the fancier or breeder. This is 



THE TOULOUSE GOOSE. 

This bird was originally imported from the Mediterranean, and is known 



76' DOMESTIC rowL. 

indiscriminately by the names of Mediterranean, Pyrenean, or that of Tou- 
louse. This bird is chiefly remarkable for its vast size — a property in which 
it casts every other known breed far into the shade ; it is indeed, the mam- 
moth of geese, and it is to be regarded as a most valuable addition to our 
stock. The prevailing color of the Toulou?e goose is a slaty blue, marked 
with brown bars, and occasionally relieved with black ; the head, neck, as 
far as the beginning of the breast, and the back of the neck, as far as the 
shoulders, of a dark brown ; the breast is slaty blue ; the belly is gray, as 
also the under surface cf the tail; the bill is orange red, and the feet are 
flesh color. There can be little doubt cf this valuable bird being the un- 
mixed and immediate descendant of the Gray-lag, and it was, indeed, at 
once pronounced to be such by the Royal Zoological Society of London, at 
their poultry exhibition of June, 1845. 

In habit the Toulouse goose resembles his congeners, but appears to possess 
a milder and more easy disposition, which, greatly conduces to the chance of 
his early fattening, and that, also, at little cost. Of his other peculiarities, 
the curl of plumage on the neck comes closer to the head than in the com- 
mon geese, and the abdominal pouchy which, in other varieties is attendant 
only upon age, exists in these birds from the shell ; the flesh of the Toulouse 
goose is tender and well flavored. As a cross with our common domestic 
goose, I am certain they will be found most valuable, and we may thus ex- 
pect eventually to arrive at a degree of perfection not hitherto anticipated. 
Mr. Dixon considers this to be no species or variety, but merely a well 
grown specimen of the common goose, raised in warm weather, and amply 
fed, and he is probably correct ; as I have reason to believe that we dimin- 
ish the size of our geese, and other poultry, by killing them off" before their 
matririty. 

Several other species of southern geese are mentioned as being found on 
the Falkland Islands, on Terra del Fuego, and some other places of the 
southern lands ; there have also been others brought from South America ; 
but all the.se are too little known, we are too little acquainted with the mi- 
gration of birds in the southern hemisphere, and those migrations are in 
themselves on so small a scale compared with the migrations in the north, 
that all that could be said about those birds would be little else than a de- 
scription of colors. There are, however, some other species which require 
a brief notice, because they deviate in some respects from the typical char- 
acters of the genus. 

These species which deviate from the proper character of the geese in 
many points, but which still essentially retain that character in others, may 
be divided into two sections : First, those which form a sort of intermediate 
link between the geese and the swans ; and secondly, those which ^orm a 
similar link between the geese and the wading birds, more especially the 
Crane family, or perhaps the Herons. We shall take them in the order now 



WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. 



11 




stated, without being very particular as to the correctness of the names, be- 
cause, though we are not quite satisfied with the existing ones, we do not 
feel ourselves called upon to contrive new ones, as our object is not to make 
systems but to give useful information. 

The Chinese Goose {A. 
Cygnoides). This species 
is not called cygnoides, or 
swan-like, from any actual 
resemblance that it has to a 
swan in any other respect 
than in color ; and that is 
not constant, for though it is ^• 
sometimes entirely white, it "" 
is subject to great variety ( 
shade. Though specimens 
have been brought from 
China, it is perhaps not very ' 
correctly styled the Chinese 
goose, inasmuch as it is 
found in many other parts 
of the south-eastern world, ' 
from China to the Cape of 
Good Hope, and it is said, 
from New Zealand, though 
it does not appear to be met with in New Holland. 

In addition to the Chinese Goose, already described, there are three sub- 
varieties, each presenting striking points of difference, and yet being suffi- 
ciently alike to justify me in classing them together. These are — 

1. The Hong Kong. — This bird has a large horny knob on the bill and 
forehead ; its prevailing color is gray, with a longitudinal stripe of a deep 
brown running above the back of the neck. The legs are of a red color, 
whence it is sometimes distinguished as the " Red-legged China goose." 
This is the same long known amongst us under the erroneous name of the 
" Poland goose." 

2. The Black-legged Chinese Goose. Also knobbed, and usually 
with a w^hite edging round the knob, somewhat similar to that of the wild 
breed called the "White-fronted goose.'' 

3. The White Chinese Goose. A very handsome bird, knobbed as 
the rest, of a snow-white color, and with legs of a bright orange red. 

These geese are inferior in size to the Toulouse, but nevertheless very fine 
birds, and worthy the attention of the breeder. The white variety, espe- 
cially, with red legs, is very beautiful, and would form an appropriate orna- 
ment on a piece of water. The flesh of the Chinese goose is also good ; 
they feed well, fatten easily, and are very prolific. 



THE CHINESE GOOSK. 



78 



DOMESTIC FOWL. 




M^k^ir 



THE COMMON DOMESTIC GOOSE. 



Of our ordinary and well 
known domestic geese there 
exist but two sorts, whose only- 
distinction seems to rest in their 
relative size, they being divided 
into the large and small ; and 
by some, according to their 
color, into the white and the 
gray. These divisions are, to a 
certain extent, arbitrary ; as out 
of one brood you will generally 
find the several varieties, both 
as to size and color, that you 
seek. I may, however, inform 
the reader that the best sorts of 
geese are those which vary 
least in color. Those approach- 
ing most nearly to the primitive 
stock, are the birds which every 
best judge will prefer breeding from. Grwj is the best color as coming 
nearest to the original Gray-lag ; white is not quite so good ; but avoid 
mixed colors ; they will not prove so prolific, and the young will be more 
diflicult to feed up to the required standard. 

I have heard it recommended to try the experiment of crossing with the 
original wild stock. This would, no doubt, be a most excellent plan. The 
Gray-lag would be the mark ; but it is now scarce. This was doubtless the 
plan resorted to by the Spaniards, whom we have to thank for our recent 
invaluable acquisition of the Toulouse variety. All we have to do now is 
to avail ourselves, as far as possible, of the superb cross thus brought within 
our reach ; and we may, ere long, bring up our common breed of gray geese 
to equal that of the continent. 

As to breeding geese. These birds, as has been ascertained by M. St. 
Genis, wuU pair like pigeons ; and even if the number of ganders exceed 
that of the geese, no noise or riot takes place, mutual choice being evidently 
the ruling principle. Amongst other experiments tried by M. St. Genis, 
he left, besides the patriarch of the flock, two of the young ganders, unpro- 
vided with mates, but still those couples that had paired kept constantly to- 
gether^ and the three single ganders never attempted to approach any of the 
females during the temporary absence of their lords. M. St. Genis also re- 
marked, in the course of his observations, that the gander is more frequently 
white than the goose. 

Some writers recommend a gander to be mated with from four to six 
geese. As I have already remarked, when treating of poultry, this must en- 



WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. Yd 

tirely depend on the object the breeder may have in view. If he desire eggs, 
and eggs alone, one gander is plenty for six or even eight geese. He may, 
indeed, abandon the unnecessary trouble of keeping a gander at all. It, 
however, so happens, that keeping geese for the produce of their eggs alone, 
is anything but profitable ; and hence these must be rendered duly fertile , 
and, to effect this, one gander to an almost indefinite number of geese will 
not answer. For the purpose of hatching, a gander should be mated with, 
at most, four geese. Let him be, if of the ordinary kinds, amongst which 
color varies, of a pure white or ash-gray color ; but not at all of two colors. 
Let his size be large, his gait active, his eye lively and clear, his voice ever 
ready and hoarse, and his demeanor full of boldness and impudence. Select 
the goose for her weight of body, steadiness of deportment, and breadth of 
foot — a quality that, however unfeminine it appear, happens, in the instance 
of geese, to indicate the presence of such other excellence as we require. 

The goose deposits from ten to twenty eggs at one laying j but, if you do 
not desire her to sit, you may, by removing the eggs as fast as they are laid, 
and, at the same time, feeding her highly, induce her to lay on from forty- 
five to fifty. This is, however, unusual, and it is unprofitable. When 
tolerably well cared for, geese may be made to lay, and even hatch, three 
times in the year. This care consists merely in high feeding and good hous- 
ing early in the spring, so as to have the first brood early in March ; but I 
would rather have two good broods reared than three bad ones, and I am, 
therefore, more disposed to recommend patience and moderation. 

The goose will, w^hen left to the unassisted promptings of nature, begin 
to lay about the latter end of February, or the beginning of March. The 
commencement of the laying ^lay be readily foreseen by marking such geese 
as run about carrying straws in their mouth. This is for the purpose of 
forming their nest, and these individuals are about to lay. They should, 
then, of course, be w^atched, lest they drop their eggs abroad. Once a goose 
is shut up. and compelled to lay her first egg of that laying in any particular 
nest, you need be at no further trouble aboiit her ; for she will continue to 
lay in that spot, and will not stray on any account elsewhere. 

We can always detect the inclination of the goose to set or hatch. This 
is known by ihe bird keeping in the nest after the laying of each egg longei 
than usual. The hatching nest should be formed of straw, with a little hay 
as a lining ; and so formed that the goose will not fling the eggs over the 
side when in the act of turning them. You need not banish the gander ; 
on the contrary, let him remain as near the nest as he chooses : he will do 
no mischief, but will act the part of a most vigilant guardian. About fifteen 
eggs will be found as many as a good-sized goose can properly cover. 
Do not meddle with the eggs during the incubation, and do not meddle 
with the goose ; but, as she is somewhat heavier than the hen, you 
may leave her food and drink rather nearer to her than is necessary 



80 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

with common poultry, as, if she chanced to absent herself from the eggs 
sufficiently long to permit them to cool, she might become disheartened, and 
desert her task altogether. It is, however, unnecessary to put either vinegar 
or pepper in her food or water, as recommended by some, or, in short, to 
meddle with her at all. 

The goose will sit on her eggs for nearly two months; but the necessary 
period of incubation being but one, the early hatched goslings must be re- 
moved lest the more tardy might be deserted. About the twenty-ninth day 
the goslings begin to chip the shell ; and if their own powers prove inade- 
quate to their liberation, aid may be rendered them, and that, also, with 
much less risk than in the case of other young birds, the shell and its mem- 
branes being very hard and strong, and the young themselves also hardy, 
and capable early of enduring hardship. The best plan is to have the eggs 
set, of as nearly as possible equal freshness, that they may be hatched at 
the one time. 

On first being hatched, turn the goslings out into a sunny walk, if the 
weather Tvill permit of such procedure ; but do not try to make them feed 
for, at least, twelve hours after leaving the shell. Their food may then be 
bread soaked in milk, porridge, curds, boiled greens, or even bran, mixed 
with boiled potatoes, taking care not to give the food in too hot a state, 
while you equally avoid giving it cold. Avoid rain or cold breezes ; and 
see, therefore, that the walk into which you turn the young goslings be 
sheltered from both wind and weather. The goslings should also be kept 
from water for at least a couple of days after hatching. If suffered too early 
to have free access to water, they are very liable to take cramp — a disease 
which generally produces permanent lameness and deformity, and but too 
frequently proves fatal. 

Geese should have an enclosed court or yard, wuth houses in w^hich they 
may be shut when occasion requires. It is better, however, to confine them 
as little as possible; and, by suffering them to stroll about, and forage for 
themselves, the expense of rearing them will fall comparatively lightly on 
you, so that you will not be conscious of any outlay. Geese require water, 
and cannot be advantageously kept when they cannot have access to it ; 
still, however, I have known them thrive where they had no access to any 
pond or river, but had only a small artificial pool, constructed by their 
owners, in which to bathe themselves. When geese are at all within reach 
of w^ater, they will, when suffered to roam at liberty, usually go in search 
of, and discover it, and will, afterwards, daily resort thither. Though the 
birds are thus fond of water, all damp about their sleeping places must be 
scrupulously guarded against. Grass is as necessary to the well-being of 
geese as water ; and the rankest, coarsest grasses, such as are rejected by 
cattle, constitute the goose's delicacy. Such grasses as they prefer, will be 
found on damp, swampy lands, of which, perhaps, no more profitable use 



WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. 81 

could be made. The stubble-field is, in its season, an excellent walk for 
geese ; for they there not only find the young grass and other herbage 
springing up amongst the stubbles, but likewise pick up much corn that 
would otherwise be lost. When the stubble-field is not to be had, there is 
usually something in the kitchen-garden that would be wasted if the geese 
were not turned in : and, observe, that this is the only season when these 
birds can be suffered to enter a garden ; for they are very destructive both 
to farm and garden crops, and even to young trees. Geese do not answer to 
be wholly fed on such green food as they can provide for themselves ; but if 
they get a few boiled potatoes occasionally, bruised up with a little bran, 
and not given too warm, they will be raised for the market at scarcely any 
cost, and will, consequently, be found very profitable to the farmer. Market 
gardeners should never be without geese, which would consume all their 
refuse, and bring money into their pockets, in return for their consumption 
of what would otherwise be wasted. 

Various measures have been adopted for fattening geese. Goslings pro- 
duced in June or July, will fatten without other food than what they will 
have afforded them on the stubble-fields, as soon as they are ready to con- 
sume it ; but, if you are in ha.ste, give potatoes, turnips, or other roots, 
bruised with meal, at least, once daily. The goose is very voracious, and 
only requires to get plenty to eat in order to accumulate fat. Geese, fed 
chiefly on grass and corn, as I have described, do not, perhaps, attain the 
same bulk with such as are crammed ; but their fat is less rank, and they 
are altogether much more desirable for the table. 

When domesticated, highly fed, and left perfectly at ease, geese grow to 
a much larger size than they ev6r attain in a state of nature. Various arts, 
and often very cruel ones, have been, and are still, resorted to for the pur- 
pose of fattening them for the table, and especially for enlarging their livers, 
which, when thus unnaturally enlarged, and consequently diseased, are much 
prized by a peculiar class of epicures, although it is impossible that any part 
of animals which are treated in this manner can be wholesome. One mode 
of managing them is, to nail the webs of their feet to a board on the floor 
near a strong fire, to sew up the vent, and forcibly to cram them with rich 
food, until they are at the point of death by suffocation : by this means the 
liver grows to an enormous size, and the goose itself increases in weight to 
twenty pounds and upwards. The fat of geese principally accumulates 
externally : and, generally speaking, it is difficult of digestion, and therefore 
unwholesome. As an important department of the poultry establishment, 
the goose, we need hardly observe, is cultivated in almost every civilized 
quarter of the world, and, when under proper management, forms a profita- 
ble article of the farmer's produce, its quills, down, flesh, and even dung, 
being all turned to account. 

4* 



82 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

Michaelmas, or stubble geese, should immediately after harvest be turned 
out on the wheat fields, where they pick up flesh very fast ; but, when taken 
up to be fattened, they should be fed with ground malt mixed with water, 
or boiled barley and water ; and, thus treated, they grow fatter than would 
at first be imagined, and acquire a delicate flavor. The old breeders may 
be plucked thrice a year, and at an interval of seven weeks, without incon- 
venience; but, young ones, before they are subjected to this operation, 
should have attained to the age of thirteen or fourteen weeks, otherwise 
they will pine and lose their good qualities. It is scarcely necessary to add, 
that the particular nature of the food, and the care that is talren of the birds, 
materially contribute to the value of the feathers and the down. In those 
neighborhoods where there is a good supply of water, they are not so sub- 
ject as elsewhere to the annoyance of vermin ; and they furnish feathers of 
a superior quality. In regard to down, there is a certain stage of maturity, 
which may be easily discovered, as it is then easily detached ; whereas, if 
removed too soon, it will not keep, and is liable to be attacked by insects 
and their larvae. Again, the feathers ought to be plucked, at the latest, be- 
fore they are quite cold, else they will contract a bad smell, and get matted. 
Under proper management, and when unmolested by plucking, &c., the 
tame goose will live to a great age — even, it is alleged, to fourscore years, 
or perhaps a century. 

M. Parmentier describes the French process of fattening. This consists 
in plucking the feathers from the belly, giving them abundance to eat and 
drink, cooping them up closely, and keeping them clean and quiet. The 
month of November is the best time to fatten geese. It the process be de- 
layed longer, the pairing season approaches, which will prevent the birds 
being brought into condition. 

In Poland, geese are, with this view, put into an earthen pot without a 
bottom, and of such a size as not to allow the bird to move ; they are then 
fed on a paste made of ground barley, maize, buckwheat, boiled potatoes, and 
milk ; the pot is so placed that no excrement remains in it : and the bird& 
get very fat in about a fortnight. Even these modes appear to me cruel and 
unnecessary ; and geese may be made fat enough for any purpose (and. in- 
deed, too much so for the taste of most persons) by keeping them in coops 
in a dark place, and laying before them as much nutritious food as they can 
eat. This is certainly done by our continental neighbors ; but then, as soon 
as the bird's appetite begins to flag (which is usually in about three weeks] , 
they are forcibly crammed by means of a tin funnel, until, in about a month, 
the poor birds become enormously and unhealthily fat. They must then be 
killed, or they would die of repletion. By this process a disease of the 
liver is induced, in consequence of which that organ attains an unnatural 
size, and is regarded as a bonne bouche by the gourmand. Ordinary geese 



WEB-FOOTED BIRDS, 



S3 



may readily be fattened, without cramming, to fourteen or fifteen pounds ; 
cramming will bring up their weight to eighteen or twenty ; but the excess 
consists of rank fat, and the flesh is deteriorated in quality, becoming actually 
unwholesome. The Toulouse geese readily fatten, without any cramming, 
up to twenty-five or even occasionally thirty pounds weight. 

In some countries, the barbarous custom of plucking live geese for the 
sake of their feathers is resorted to. I am sorry to have to say that this 
cruel practice still obtains extensively. Of its barbarity, I presume I need 
say nothing ; but I may observe, that geese so treated usually become un- 
healthy; many of them die; and even of such as survive, the flesh is 
rendered tough and unwholesome. If it be ever true, as is asserted, that the 
quills cast in the natural process of moulting are of inferior quality, why not 
clip them away close to the skin before that operation of nature begins ? 
Then the geese will only require warmth and housing if the weather be not 
mild, and you will have the feathers and the geese both unimpaired in qua- 
lity, and your consciences unburdened by any reminiscence of inhumanity 
on your part. 

THE DUCK (anas) . 




THE WILD DUCK, 



Wild Ducks. — Ducks properly so called admit of a natural division into 
three groups, two of which have distinctive characters, while the third, 
which is intermediate, partakes somewhat of the character of both. This 
distinction is at once structural and strongly indicative of the habits of the 
bird, the one consisting of species which have the toes webbed together, 



84 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

the other of those which have the back toe loose or separate from the others. 
The third group alluded to, partakes more or less of the characters of each ; 
in common language, however, the General Character Duck founded upon 
the Mallard or Common Wild Duck, may be considered as typical of the 
whole three. The older naturalists divided these into Sea Ducks, being 
more perfectly web-footed, feeding principally in salt water, diving much in 
feeding, having a broad bill bending upwards ; and Pokd Ducks, haunting 
ponds and pools, having a straight and narrow bill, a very little hind toe, 
separated. 

The whole tribe of Ducks, whether aquatic or more landward in their 
habits, find their food more by the sense of touch than by sight, and the bill 
is a very beautifully organized instrument for that purpose. It is covered 
by a sentient membrane ; and the edges, which come in contact with foreign 
substances, are covered with papillae, and abundantly furnished with nerves, 
so that when a duck dabbles in the water, the feeling in the bill enables it 
to distinguish eatable substances from the sludge and pebbles with which 
they are mixed. 

The Duck in a domesticated state is an interesting and valuable bird, and 
an important object in rural economy. They are more intelligent than 
most races of ornamental poultry, and from their habit of feeding they are 
much less destructive, if they do not materially assist the efforts of the 
husbandman. When kept in a proper situation, having due access to pure 
water, and are fed with proper food, they are also very profitable animals ; 
and though the flavor of their flesh is peculiar, and the fat, especially of the 
aquatic species, is oily and indigestible, yet they are far from unwholesome. 
If they have access to running streams, or even a pond of clean Avater, it is 
to be preferred, though even the ponds usually attached to farms answer 
very well for ducks. Where ornamental pieces of water exist in parks or 
pleasure-grounds attached to a gentleman's residence, ducks may be intro- 
duced with very pleasing eflfect, and this not only with the domesticated 
varieties, but even with those species which are in their natural habits the 
most aquatic. Even the Migratory Duck may be attracted permanently on 
ornamental waters and tamed. In the wild state little is known of the 
duck : the habits of the whole race in the breeding season are retired and 
silent, and as they breed in places not easily accessible to man, it may be 
doubted if the accounts of naturalists are to be relied upon. The males are 
peculiarly retiring and silent after the pairing season, and the female does 
not come abroad till she can launch her ducklings on the water. 

THE DOMESTIC DUCK. 

The duck should always find a place in the poultry-yard, provided that 
it can have access to water ; without water it is useless endeavoring to keep 
these fowl ; but even a very small supply will suflice. I myself have kept 
them with success, and fattened the ordinarj' duck to the weight of eight 



WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. 85 

pounds, with no further supply of water than what was afforded by a large 
tub sunk in the ground, as I have already described when treating of poultry- 
yards. It must be remembered, that the flesh of these birds will be found 
to partake, to a great extent, of the flavor of the food on which they have 
been fattened; and as they are naturally very foul feeders, care should be 
taken for at least a week or so before killing, to confine them to select food. 
Boiled potatoes are very good feeding, and are still better if a little grain be 
mixed through them ; Indian meal will be found economical and nutritive, 
and the best food. 

Some recommend butchers' oflal ; but I may only warn my readers, that 
although ducks may be fattened on such food to an unusual weight, and thus 
made profitable for the market, such feeding will render their flesh rank 
and gross. In a garden, ducks will do good service, voraciously consuming 
slugs, frogs, and insects ; nothing coming amiss to them ; not being scratch- 
ers, they do not, like other poultry, commit such a degree of mischief in re- 
turn as to counterbalance their usefulness. 

The duck is very prolific ; has been known to lay an egg daily for eighty- 
five successive days. The egg of the duck is by some people very much 
relished, having a rich piquancy of flavor, which gives it a decided superior- 
ity over the egg of the common fowl ; and these qualities render it much in 
request with the pastry cook and confectioners — three duck eggs being equal 
in culinary value to six hen eggs. The duck does not lay during the daj', 
but generally in the night: exceptions regulated by circumstances, will, of 
course, occasionally occur. While laying, the duck requires more attention 
than the hen, until she is accustomed to resort to a regular nest for de- 
positing her eggs — once, however, that this is effected, she will no longer 
require your attendance. 

The duck is a bad hatcher ; she is too fond of the water, and is, conse- 
quently, too apt to suffer her eggs to get cold ; she will also, no matter what 
sort of weather it be, bring the ducklings to the water the moment they 
break the shell, a practice always injurious and frequently fatal ; hence the 
very common practice of setting duck eggs under hens. The eggs of the 
duck are thirty-one days in hatching ; during incubation, they require no 
turning or other attention ; and when hatched only require to be kept from 
water for a day or two ; their first food may be boiled eggs, nettles, and a 
little meal ; in a few days they demand no care, being perfectly able to 
shift for themselves ; but ducks at any age are the most helpless of the in- 
habitants of the poultry-yard, having no weapon with which to defend 
themselves from vermin, or birds of prey, and their awkward waddling gait 
precluding their seeking safety in flight; a good stout courageous cock, and 
a sharp little terrier dog, are the best protectors of your poultry yard. The 
old duck is not so brave in the defence of her brood as the hen; but she 
will, nevertheless, occasionally display much spirit. 



86 



DOMESTIC FOWL. 



THE AYLESBURY DUCK. 

There are many varieties of the Domestic Duck, the origin of which is 
by no means determined. White ducks have the preference with many; 
and of all the vs^hite ducks, the Aylesbury is the favorite. This is a large 
handsome bird, with plumage unspotted, and yellow legs and feet, and tlesh- 
colored bill. Until the introduction of the variety called Rhone, or Rohan, 
but more probably Rouen Duck, from the town of that name on the Seine, 
the Aylesbury Duck was esteemed the most valuable of all ; the latter bird, 
however, now fairly divides the honor with it, and is by some regarded as 
superior. The flesh of the Aylesbury duck is of a most delicate flavor, be- 
ing by many compared to that of the chicken ; but it is asserted that a cross 
between that and the Rouen Duck is superior in flavor to all others. 

THE ROUEN DUCK. 

The ducks of France are abundant and fine, especially in Normandy and 
Languedoc, where duck-liver pies are considered a great delicacy. 

The Rev. Mr. Dixon seems to consider the Rouen Duck to be merely a 
dealer's name for the common duck. In this, however, he is scarcely justi- 
fied, as it certainly possesses qualities not to be found in the common brown 
duck ; these qualities, however, depend not on any specific differences, but 
on attention to a healthy mode of breeding and rearing them. The bird is 
very prolific, lays large eggs ; and the name suits as well as another, 

THE MUSCOVY OR MUSK DUCK 

Does not, as some suppose, derive its name from having been brought from 
that country, but from the flavor of its flesh, and should more properly be 
termed the Musk duck, of which its other name is only a corruption ; it is 
easily distinguished by a red membrane surrounding the eyes and covering 
the cheeks. These ducks, not being in esteem on account of their peculiar 
odor, and the unpleasant flavor of their flesh, are not worth breeding unless 
to cross with the common variety, in which case, let it be remarked, that 
the Musk drake must be put to the common duck ; this will produce a very 
large cross, but vice versa, will produce a very inferior one. 

The Musk duck is a distinct 
species from the common 
(luck; and the hybrid race 
will, therefore, not breed 
again between themselves, 
although they are capable of 
doing so with either of the 
species from the commixture 
of which they sprung. 

MUSK DUCK. 




DISEASES OF FOWL, ETC. 87 



THE BLACK KAST INDIAN DUCK. 

These ducks are black, and all black, feathers, legs, and bill, with a tinge 
of deep rich green. On a pond, mingled with the white Aylesburies, they 
look extremely well, and on the spit they are more like wild duck than any 
other. 

THE CALL DtJCK. 

The bantam of its race, usually colored like the wild mallard, but often 
white. This color is preferred by fowlers who use it in the decoys, as 
it is easily distinguished from the others. These birds have compact and 
elegantly rounded crests, and are very handsome. 

The Aylesbury and Rouen varieties are the most valuable, and the only 
ones to which it is necessary to call particular attention. 

The wild duck pairs strickly with a single mate ; the domestic drake does 
not pair, and should have from four to six mates. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE DISEASES OF FOWL, WITH THEIR SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT. 

I MAY here premise, that when you see a fowl begnining to droop or to ex- 
hibit a deficiency of appetite, it is better at once to devote it to table use. If, 
however, the fowl be of great value — perhaps a Spanish cock — make an at- 
tempt to save him. 

The most common diseases to which fowl are liable, are as follows : — 



1. Moulting. 


5. Diarrhoea. 


9. Consumption 


2. Pip. 


6. Indigestion. 


10. Gout. 


3. Inflammation. 


7. Apoplexy. 


11. Corns. 


4. Asthma. 


8. Fever 


12. Costiveness. 



Accidents producing fracture, bruises, ulcers, loss of feathers, &c., may, 
in most cases, be left to nature. When bones are broken, in most cases the 
patient had better be consigned to the cook. In other cases of accident the 
good sense of the owner will generally dictate the remedy. 

Moulting, while, as being a natural process of annual occurrence, it can 
scarcely be called a disease, yet must be treated of as if it really were one, 
from a consideration of the effects which it produces. It is most dangerous 
in young chickens. With adult birds, warmth and shelter are usually all 
that is required, united with diet of a somewhat extra stimulating and nu- 
tritious character. 

Dr. Bechstein remarks, that, in a state of nature, moulting occurs to wild 
birds when their food is most plentiful; hence, nature herself points out that 



88 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

the fowl should, during that period, be furnished with an extra supply of 
food. After the third year the period of moulting becomes later and later, 
until it will sometimes happen in January or February. Of course, when 
this occurs, every care as to warmth should be bestowed. The use of Cay- 
enne pepper alone, administering two or three grains made into a pill with 
bread, will generally suffice. Do not listen to the recommendation of igno- 
rant or presuming quacks ; if this simple treatment do not help them 
through, they will die in spite of all you may do. 

The feathers will at times drop off fowl, when not moulting, to a very 
considerable extent, rendering them often nearly naked. This is a disorder 
similar to the mange in many other animals ; and the same sort of treatment 
— viz., alteratives, such as sulphur and nitre, in the proportions of one quar- 
ter each, mixed with fresh butter, a change of diet, cleanliness, and fresh air 
in addition to this — will generally be found sufficient to eifect the cure. Be 
careful not to confound this affection with moulting. The distinction is, that 
in the latter case the feathers are replaced by new ones as fast as they are 
cast ; in the former this is not so, and the animal becomes bald. Mr. Martin 
relates an anecdote which would indicate that fear has influences as great 
upon birds as on the human being. " A cock,"' he says, " belonging to a 
friend, was dreadfully frightened by a dog, and became white, but recovered 
his natural plumage at the next moult. A black Poland cock, being seized 
near the house by a fox, his screams being heard, he was rescued, desperate- 
ly wounded, with the loss of half his feathers. In time the remainder of 
his feathers came ofl^, and he became perfectly white." 

Pip. — A disease to w^hich young fowl are peculiarly liable, and that, too, 
chiefly in hot weather. 

The symptoms are — a thickening of the membrane of the tongue, espe- 
cially towards its tip. This speedily becomes an obstruction of sufficient 
magnitude to impede the breathing ; this produces gasping for breath ; and 
at this stage the beak will often be held open. The plumage becomes ruffled 
and neglected, especially about the head and neck. The appetite gradually 
goes ; and the poor bird shows its distress by pining, moping, and seeking 
solitude and darkness. 

The cause of this disease is want of clean water and feeding too much 
upon hot exciting food. Dr. Bechstein considers it to be analogous to 
the influenza of human beings. Theories respecting its nature are numerous 
and of very little practical importance. 

Cure. — Most writers recommend the immediate removal of the thickened 
membrane. I do not like this. Mr. Martin in his excellent work, recom- 
mends that the tongue be cleansed by applying a little borax dissolved in 
tincture of myrrh, by means of a camel-hair pencil, two or three times a-day. 
We would rather anoint the part with fresh butter or cream. Prick the 
scab with a needle, if you like: and give internally a pill about the size of a 



DISEASES OF FOWL, ETC. 89 

marble, composed of : — Garlic, and Horse-radish scraped, in equal parts, as 
much Cayenne pepper as will outweigh a grain of wheat. Mix this with 
fresh butter, and give it every morning — keeping the fowl warnn. Keep the 
bird supplied with plenty of fresh water ; preserve it from molestation, by 
keeping it by itself, and you will generally find it get well if you have taken 
the disease in time. Do not let any one, equally ignorant and cruel, persuade 
you to cram the mouth with snuff after having torn off the thickened mem- 
brane with your nail. This is equally repugnant to humanity and common 
reason. Forcing tobacco-smoke down the bird's throat is advised ; and 
when, as sometimes is the case, the disease depends on the presence of a 
worm, then it is most successful. 

Inflammation. — Most of the diseases to which poultry are subject may 
be traced to inflammation exhibiting itself in some part of the system. 

Inflammation of the Trachea. — The disease to which this term is im- 
properly applied is an inflammation of the tail-gland. The true roup is a 
disease extremely analogous to influenza in man, or even more so to the 
well-known distemper among dogs ; and, in some forms, perhaps, to the 
glanders of the horse, and is sometimes termed Gapes and sometimes Roup 
or Croup. 

The symptoms are — difficulty of breathing, constant gaping, dimness of 
sight, lividity of the eyelids, and the total loss of sight; a discharge from the 
nostrils, that gradually becomes purulent and fetid : appetite has fled ; but 
thirst remains to the most aggravated extent. Sometimes this disease ap- 
pears to occur independently of any obvious cause ; but dirt, too hot feeding, 
and want of exercise are amongst the most usual. 

The remedies recommended ' are various. Mr. Martin prescribes one 
grain calomel made up with bread into a pill, or, if preferred, two or three 
grains Plummer's pills (pil. hydr. Submur. co. Lond. Pharm.) , after which 
let flour of sulphur be administered mixed with a little ginger, mixed barley 
meal reduced to a paste, and the mouth well washed in a weak solution of 
chloride of lime. In the mean time, let the bird be kept in a dry, warm, 
well ventilated apartment, and apart from the other fowl. When the bird 
dies of this disease, the trachea will be found replete with narrow worms 
about half an inch in length imbedded in slimy mucus. This singular worm 
is the distoma lineare, a long and short body united, the long body being the 
female, the short the male ; they are permanently united, otherwise they 
are quite perfect in themselves. Mr. Martin is uncertain if these worms are 
the cause or consequence of the disease ; but it is certain when they have 
once established themselves, their removal is necessary to give the bird a 
chance of recovery. This is sometimes done by means of a feather, neatly 
trimmed, which is introduced into the windpipe, and turned round once or 
twice, and then drawn out ; this will dislodge some of the worms if dex- 
terously performed, and with some knowledge of the anatomy of the parts. 



90 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

Spirit of turpentine in rice, and afterwards a little salt in the water, have 
been given successfully. 

My treatment would merely be warmth and cleanliness, as matters of 
course ; and for pellets — 

Powdered gentian, - • - 1 part, 

Powde-ed ginger, ■ - - 1 " 

Epsom salts. - - - IJ " 

flour of sulphur, - - - ^" 

Make up with butter, and give every morning. 

If the discharge should become fetid, the mouth, nostrils, and eyes may 
be bathed with a weak solution, composed of equal parts of chloride of lime 
and acetate of lead. Fomentation with an infusion of chamomile flowers is 
also highly beneficial. 

The other affection — that improperly passed under this name — viz., swell- 
ing of the tail-gland — may be treated as a boil. If it become inconveniently 
hard and ripe, let the pus or matter out with a penknife, and it will soon get 
well. 

Inflammation of thk Lungs is attended by quick breathing with a 
rattle, an audible dullness, disorder of plumage, vacancy in the eye, and 
general indisposition. Bleeding, the natural remedy for such symptoms, is 
out of the question, for how is a bird to be bled, and where ? 

Infla.^imation of the Heart. — A fatal disease among poultry, and only 
detected by examination after death. The patient appears to droop, refuses 
to eat. retires to roost, and is found dead in the morning. In this case, the 
peritoneal membrane exhibits indications of active inflammation. 

Inflammation of the Mucous Membrane. — Generally proceeds from 
aggravated diarrhoea. The bird is severely purged, and the evacuations be- 
''onie more or less tinged with blood, and death ensues unless a speedy 
remedy is applied. Damp and improper food are the cause of the disease. 
The remedy, to be successful, must be administered early; first, give a small 
quantity of castor oil : this will clear the bowels of irritating secretions ; 
afterwards, give doses of hydrargyrum cum creta^ (Lond. PharmacopoBia) , 
with rhubarb and laudanum, as follows : — 

Hydr. cum creta - - .3 grains. 
Riiubarb, - • - 2 or 3 grains. 

Laudanum, - - - 2, 3, or 4 drops. 

Mix in a teaspoonful of gruel, and give twice a day. 

Asthma is characterised by gaping, panting, and difficulty of breathing. 

We need not go far to seek for a cause. Our poultry are originally natives 
of tropical climates ; and, however well they may appear climatized, they, 
nevertheless, require an equable temperature, unaided by artificial means. 
Hence coughs, colds, catarrh, asthma, pulmonary consumption, arise from 
variable climate. 

Cure. — Warmth, with small repeated doses of hippo powder and sulphur 



DISEASES OF FOWL, ETC. 91 

mixed with butter. The addition of Cayenne pepper will be an improve- 
nnent. 

Diarrhoea is occasioned by damp, and sometimes by improper food. Re- 
move the bird into dry quarters ; change the food ; if it become very severe, 
give chalk ; add a little starch, mixed with Cayenne, to porridge, and give 
it moderately warm. 

iNDiGESTioN.-ir-Caused by over-feeding and want of exercise. Lessen 
the quantity of food ; turn the fowl into an open walk, and give some pow- 
dered gentian and Cayenne in the food. 

Apoplexy. — Symptoms — Staggering, shaking of the head, and a sort of 
tipsy aspect. Some persons have, from ignorance of the true cause of this 
affection, treated it as proceeding from intestinal irritation, and prescribed 
castor-oil with syrup of ginger, &c. Scanty food, and that of light quality, 
and the application of leeches to the back of the neck, constitute, in my 
opinion, the only effectual remedy. Perhaps, however, it is better to have 
the poor bird at once handed over to the cook. 

Parasites in fowls. — The insects which infest animals of all kinds, 
more especially domesticated ones, are the bane of their existence. In 
poultry they are particularly obnoxious, and the utmost possible cleanliness 
and frequent lime-washing and fumigation, are necessary to keep thera in 
proper condition. White precipitate powder, applied with a small camel- 
hair pencil, in small quantities, will destroy lice and other parasites. 

Like the domestic fowl the peacock has also its parasites in the Goniodes 
pulcicornis. After the death of the bird the insect maybe found congre- 
gated in numbers about the base of the beak and crown of the head. Mr. 
Denny was induced to examine all the genera of domesticated birds, and he 
found on the Turkey Lipeurus polytrapezius as a common parasite ; the 
Goniodes siylifer is also frequent in the head, neck, and breast. Over the do- 
mestic fowl he found three species of parasitic Gonoidcs dissimilis of rare 
occurrence. Lipeurus variabilis preferring the primary and secondary 
feathers of the wing, among the ribs of which they move with great celerity, 
Menopo7i pallidum he also found in great abundance on the domestic fowl ; 
and, as a general rule, he observed that when two or more species frequented 
the same species of bird, each had its own locality. 

The remedy in all cases is cleanliness, and when the fowls are over in- 
fested, fumigation and a plentiful sand bath of clean, dry and rough sand ; 
for the white precipitate powder, named above, is poisonous, and only fit to 
be used on very young birds, which have not yet learned the art of preening 
their feathers with their bill. 

Fever. — Fowl are frequently subject to febrile affections. The mode of 
treatment is simple — light food, and little of it ; change of air ; and, if ne- 
cessary aperient medicines — such as castor-oil, with a little burnt butter. 

Consumption I regard as incurable ; but, if anything will do good, it is 
change of air and warmth. 




DOMESTIC FOWL. 

OUT. — Its effects are obvious. Pellets of Colchicum may be used ; but 
if -you had, as you should have done, killed your fowl before they became so 
olf, it would have been more rational. They are now past use. Sulphur 
mJFj'a.lso be found useful. 

Corns. — These may generally be extracted with the point of a penknife. 
If ulcer^|:ed, aswillbften occur when negleoted, touch with lunar caustic, 
and you may thus supcceed in establishing he/lthy granulations. 

CosTivENESs. — Tfiis affectiou will, in ^neral, yield to castor-oil and 
burnt butter. The Uiet should be sparing/ Thin porridge will be found 
useful. ~- j n 

In the case of fractures, put the fowlyto death without loss of time. The 
same may be said o^ bruises. By thi»)^u not merely avoid some loss, but 
save the poor bird niuch suffering. / ;' 

The accidental strijpping of the fe^tMrs must not be confounded with the 
mangy affection already treated of. /TJh^ difference will be seen by examin- 
ing the state of the skin where it \k eAosed. 

Ulcers may be kept clean, dresjBed Jwith a little lard, or washed with a 
weak solution of sugar ot lead, a/thmr aspect indicates. I^ sluggish, touch 
with bluestone. ^ / :i\ 

[APT] 



Cf'POXIZING 

The objects proposed in converting a cock into a capon are the following : 
— his natural fierceness is quelled ;\ he. becomes placid and peaceful; his 
pugnacity has deserted him ; he no lok^r seeks the company of the hens ; 
he grows to a far larger size than he otherwise would have done ,• he acquires 
flesh with much greater rapidity, and that flesh is peculiarly white, firm, and 
succulent, and even the fat is perfectly destitute of rankness. To these ad- 
vantages another may, perhaps, be added — viz., the capon may, by a little 
management, be converted into an admirable nurse, and will be found par- 
ticularly valuable, in this respect, to parties using the eccalobeion, or hatching- 
machine. 

The process has been made a subject of much unnecessary mystery, and, 
I regret to add, of much unnecessary cruelty. In point of fact, caponizing 
is an extremely simple affair, which the country henwives in France per- 
form with facility and certainty. The practice of the French country 
women is to select the close of the spring, or the beginning of autumn, as 
well as fine weather, for the performance of their work. The parts neces- 
sary to be removed being fixed in the abdomen, and attached to the spine at 




CAPONIZING. 93 

the region of the loins, it is absolutely necessary to open the abdominal 
cavity for the purpose of their extraction. The bird should be healthy, 
fasting, and about three months old. He is then to be secured by an assist- 
ant, upon his back, his belly upwards, and his head down, that the intestines, 
&c., may fall up towards the breast ; the tail is to be towards the operator. 
The right leg is then carried along the body, and the left brought backwards, 
and held in this position, so as to leave the left flank perfectly bare, for it is 
there that the incision is to be made. The said incision is to be directed 
from before backwards, transversely to the length of the body, at the middle 
of the flank and slightly to the side between the ends of the breast-bone 
and the vent. Having plucked away the feathers from the space where it 
is intended to make the incision, you take a bistoury or a scalpel, and cut 
through <the skin, abdominal mpscles, and peritoneum ; it is better to do this 
at two or more cuts, in order to avoid the possibility of wounding the intes- 
tines — a casualty that would, in most cases, be attended with fatal results. 
The intestines present themselves at the orifice ; but you must not suffer 
them to come out; on the contrary, you press them gently aside, so as to 
have room for action. I may observe, that the incision should have been 
sufficiently large to admit of the forefinger, previously well oiled, being 
passed into the abdomen, and carried carefully towards the lumbar region of 
the spine : you will there find what you are in search of. You first reach 
the left substance, which you detach with your nail, or with your finger bent 
hook-fashion ; then you arrive at the right, which you treat similarly — 
bring both substances forth ; you finally return the intestines, sow up the 
■wound with a silk thread — a very few stitches will suffice — and smear the 
place with a little fresh butter. The comb of the capon does not grow to 
any size, and always retains a pallid color. 

The process having been performed as above described, the bird is placed 
in a warm house, where there are no perches, as, if such appliances were 
present, the newly-made capon might very probably injure himself in his at- 
tempts to perch, and perhaps even tear open the sutures, and possibly occa- 
sion the operation,' usually simple and free from danger, to terminate fatal- 
ly. For about a week, the food of the bird should be soft oatmeal porridge, 
and that in small quantities, alternated with bread steeped in milk ; he may 
be given as much pure water as he will drink ; but I recommend that it be 
tepid, or at least that the chill be taken off it. At the end of a week, or, at 
the farthest, ten days, the bird, if he has been previously of a sound vigor- 
ous constitution, will be all right, and may be turned out into the walk com- 
mon to all your fowl. 

The Malays are particularly adapted for caponizing, and, when properly 
fattened, at a suitable time after the operation, attain a bulk and weight that 
would surprise such persons as have never seen a caponized specimen of that 
breed, the birds, in fact, rivalling the finest turkeys. 



94 



DOMESTIC FOWL. 



An operation of a similar nature is performed upon hens, either before 
they have begun to lay, or after they have ceased to do so, for the purpose 
of preventing them from laying in future. This renders them, as the other 
does the cock, more susceptible of taking flesh, and that of a finer quality 
than ordinary. It is proper to remind the reader that, of course, when it is 
deemed advisable thus to deprive a hen of the power of reproduction, such 
a one should always be selected as presents deformities or other defects that 
ought to render her unfit for breeding purposes. 

The caponizing of pullets is performed in much the same manner as in 
the case of cocks. The oviduct is found towards the loins, and is extracted 
in the same manner as already described in the former case. Some French 
writers, however, and Schreger amongst the first, state, that in the case of 
pullets or hens the operation is unnecessary, it being only required to make 
a small incision just above the vent, on a little eminence that will be per- 
ceived in that place ; then, by repeated pressure, you cause the protrusion of 
the uterus — a little whitish body ; this is cut away, the wound heals of it- 
self, and nothing further is required. 

When necessary, in either case, to employ sutures for the purpose of clos- 
ing the wound, great care must be taken to avoid involving the intestines in 
the stitches. I warn the operator that, if he be tedious in the performance 
of his work, the chances are greatly against his success. Whoever proposes 
to caponize should acquire dexterity of manipulation by practising on the 
dead bird, before he endeavors to use his knife upon the living: when such 

INSTRUMENTS FOR CAPONISING. 




CAPONISING. 



95 



"^ 



c 




o 




RETRACTOR. 



INSTRUMENTS FOR CAPONISING. 

These are, a scalpel, for cuttinor open the 
fowl, and cutting the thin skin which en- 
velops the testicles ; a silver refractw, for 
stretching open the wound wide enough to 
operate within ; a pair of spin s forceps, de- 
noted by tlie letter a, having a sharp cutting 
edge, lilce that of a chisel, with a bevei 
half an inch in its greatest width, for 
making the incision and securing the thin 
membrane covering the testicles ; a spoon- 
shaped tool, marked b, with a sharp hook at 
one end for pushing and removing the tes- 
ticles, adjusting the loop, and to assist in 
tearing open the tender covering of the 
testicles ; and a double silver canula, marked 
c, for containing the two ends of horse 
hair or fibre constituting the loop, to be 
passed around the testicle to draw it out. 



FORCEPS, SPOON AND CANULA. 



96 DOMESTIC FOWL. 

precautions are used, the operation will be divested of much of its apparent 
cruelty; and if to be resorted to at all. every precaution should be taken 
to outrage hunaanity as little as possible. 

Sometimes, but rarely, this operation is performed on turkeys, geese, and 
ducks: the reason why it is performed so rarely on these birds is, that, from 
the great plumpness of their bodies, Vi'hat we want to arrive at is farther 
from our reach, the operation, of course, so much the more difficult, and the 
probability of success so much the more remote. 

The capon is so very much disposed of itself to take on flesh that it will, 
in general, attain to sufficient condition in the yard, or about the barn door. 
Sometimes, however, it is deemed advisable to cram him. This practice in- 
duces rapid growth in little time, a very delicate quality of flesh (I except 
the caponized gander from this) , and also causes him to fetch a higher price 
in the market. When it is considered desirable to cram a capon, he is taken 
and placed in a dark and quiet house, or coop, so small that he shall be un- 
able to exercise ; he may then be fed with pellets of meal and milk. Pea- 
meal or bean meal will be found to impart a fine flavor to the flesh, but if 
this description of food be found too binding, let pellets of barley-meal be 
given, till the undesired eflfect is removed ; the bird should be left as much 
food as he will eat, and should, besides, be crammed at least three times a 
day. In three weeks he will be ready for use. It may not be amiss here 
to remind the reader that the droppings of the bird are almost, if not quite, 
as valuable as guano for the purpose of manure. 

A little dish of fine gravel or coarse sand, left in the feeding trough, will 
be relished by the birds, will promote digestion, and will, of course, thus aid 
in conducing to their rapid fattening. 



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